A Twist Of Fate
by fizzyworms
Summary: When you think everythings fine, why does a twist in fate, make something occur to give things a turn for the worst? How will Soda cope when his life comes crashing down? What effect does it have on the rest of the gang?
1. The Back Row of the Movies

"Come on guys, were gonna be late!" The film started at seven pm, it was already half past six. Sodapop, his younger brother Ponyboy, their friends Johnny, Dally, Steve and Two-Bit were off to the movies. It was an activity in which the group of friends often indulged in. However their main reason for going wasn't to watch a movie, it was to look for girls. The movies were like a beehive; well if girls were bees.

"Soda, honestly if you spend anymore time making yourself look beautiful, we won't get to see the film till next week!" remarked Steve, straightening his slightly creased, blue DX shirt.

Steve was Soda's best friend, since grade school. He was lean, and medium built, not too tall and not too short. He had jet-black hair, and mystical green eyes. His distinguishing features and wacky smile made him attractive, yet he looked mysterious and perhaps even slightly rough- this was due to the old scar embedded in his tanned complexion. That scar told a story; I suppose you could say it was a battle wound from a rumble in which they fought the soc's. This was another time-honoured tradition for the gang. Rumbles. They just couldn't get enough of the high-energy adrenaline rush as they fought the soc's.

Soda however, wasn't as lean as Steve; he was a medium build, with broad shoulders and a steady frame. He had a sensitive face that somehow managed to be reckless, and considerate at the same time. His eyes were a lively dark brown. They danced, recklessly when he laughed. He could be gentle and sympathetic one minute then on fire with anger the next. He was unpredictable.

It was ten to seven. The six of them left the Curtis residence and walked down the sidewalk towards the movies. Ponyboy, the youngest of the six, was kicking a can down the street, much to Steve's annoyance. The rusty can scraped the concrete pavement creating the most irritating scraping noise.

"Stop it, Pony! Geez, you're driving me crazy. Kickin' that can!" Steve exclaimed.

"I was only kicking it, just thinkin'. Didn't realise what I was doin'," replied Pony. "Shoot, I hope there's some decent girls at this film. The ones last week weren't too clever. Well except that blonde one, shoot, she was all over me!"

"HA! All over you! Are you joking? Pony, she rejected you. She was all over me!" Dally laughed. "Ponyboy do you honestly think you got a shot when Dallas Winston's on the cards! Ha Pony you crack me up!"

Dallas Winston was one of a kind. He was rough and ruggedly handsome. He was a bad boy. He'd had his fair share of run ins with the fuzz. Dally was proud of that, he was proud of who he was, and no one was going to tell him differently. As he walked along the sidewalk, his dark hair moved in the summer breeze. His electric blue eyes glistened, darting about looking for mischief.

Ponyboy was the youngest Curtis brother, he was intelligent and thoughtful, and he was intuitively one with nature. Ponyboy was the one greaser who appreciated simple things, like sunsets, and clouds, this made him different. This made him special. Ponyboy had greenish grey eyes, and dark hair.

The sky was a pink - red colour, Pony noticed as he glanced up at the mid-June sky. As he thought he realised there was a slight summer breeze hanging around. _What a nice day, _he thought to himself.

They made their way to a row of seats, which surprisingly enough was situated near a group of girls.

"Good seats! Look at those broads over there," Two-Bit stated, pointing towards the group of girls, sitting behind and slightly to the left of them. There was four of them, all reasonably pretty, all naïve to the fact they were being looked at by a group of rouges.

Two-Bit Matthew's was a reasonably attractive, he was witty, sarcastic, and never without a joke. He had short mousy brown hair and a cheeky grin. He was wearing a yellow t-shirt with a picture of Mickey Mouse printed on the front. Two-Bit was a big fan of Mickey and rarely missed a show.

"Soda aren't those girls in your English class?" Johnny asked, for some reason he found himself curious although he wasn't sure why, he only went to the movies to watch the film; rather than check out girls.

"Shoot, yeah they are, I think anyway." Soda said whilst messing on with his hair. "Actually I sit with the one with the dark hair or at least I used to till last week when I got moved, 'cos apparently I wasn't doin' any work, so I had to go to the front. I'm sure the teacher fancies me." Steve and Johnny looked at Soda in disbelief. Johnny smiled; he thought Soda was amusing, he had a dry sense of humour in which he sort of idolised himself.

Johnny was 16 but he looked about 14. His eyes were a chocolate brown; they looked tired and older than they were- this was partly due to the domestic violence he suffered in his home. He was everyone's kid brother. The little pet of the gang. He was an outcast in his own home, the gang were his sanction, and they were the only ones to show him any sort of affection. His dark hair was excessively gelled to keep it from falling into his eyes. He was the nicest boy you could meet and also the most nervous.

"Which one you diggin' then? Soda? Which ones your fancy bit from school? Hey isn't that Tori Jameson?" Dally was intrigued, he was leaning on the edge of his seat staring up at the brunette, chewing on a straw.

"Yeah it sure is. That's Tori alright." Soda said with a smile. "Two-Bit isn't that Leigh Stocker? The one you used to stalk?" Soda tried to change the subject. He had always liked Tori, but he didn't want Dally to know that.

"I didn't stalk her I just liked her for a time. But yeah that's her and she looks pretty damn fine." Two-Bit remarked, expressing a cheeky grin. "Come on Soda, let's go and chat to them."

"Whoa! Wait for me! You guys aren't going anywhere without me! Come on Soda introduce me to the honey!" Dally exclaimed, as he stood up. Dally glanced at Steve, his eyes were electrifyingly powerful. Steve laughed.

"Fine I will, but am telling you Dal, Tori won't be interested in you." Soda said with a smug grin. Secretly he hoped she wasn't.

As Soda, Two-Bit and Dally approached the girls, Tori looked straight at them, unsure at what was about to happen. She nudged the blonde girl sitting next to her. She too looked. _What was going on?_

"Hey Tori," Soda said. Dally nudged him in the side, Soda stumbled forward, his face turned a pale shade of red. "Oh this is Dally and you guys know Two-Bit."

Tori looked uneasy, yet she smiled and confidently said, "Hi, yeah I know Two-Bit, and I've also heard of Dally." Her majestic green eyes darted over the faces of the 3 boys, and met Soda's eyes, their eyes were fixated on each other for a minute, until Tori realised her staring was obvious. "Yeah so, this is Leigh, Two-Bit am sure you already know her! And this is Shelly, and Kirsten." Tori was smiling, she had small dimples in her cheeks and a white, clean cheeky smile. She was slim, about 5ft6 and had long dark brown hair. She was really attractive. Tori had a reputation for being a bit of a player.

Her friend Leigh on the other hand, had shoulder length blonde hair, and dazzling blue eyes, again she was slim and attractive. Shelly had brown hair and was the quietest of the four; she rarely attended school and felt uncomfortable in large crowds. Kirsten was pretty, in an unusual way. She had a petite frame, small facial features, dark eyes, and jet-black hair.

Tori looked at Soda and then at Leigh- why had they come over? They weren't talking? Or at least not about anything important. Suddenly Dally spoke.

"So how about you lovely ladies come sit with us. We got some popcorn and some drinks. And don't worry about Ponyboy – (he's the little one), he won't bother you" Dally looked at the four girls trying to anticipate their response.

"Yeah why not." Leigh said abruptly. "Well that is if you fancy it?" she said looking at her friends for approval.

"Why not. Its not like these seats are any better than those ones," Kirsten said, much to Soda's delight.

They all walked over to where the rest of the gang were sat. Soda shot Steve a look indicating he was going to pull. Steve grinned then looked at Tori, his expression changed, he approved.

The film started. Two-Bit eagerly tried to make conversation with Leigh, asking her about general things, throwing in a couple of witty comments, which made Leigh laugh.

"Look at Two-Bit and Leigh, they look like they're getting on well!" Tori laughed, and smiled at Kirsten.

"Yeah I noticed!" Kirsten grinned and turned her attention back to the film, and placed her hand on Steve's leg. Steve smiled, and looked at Soda. Soda grinned and gave him the thumbs up. Steve turned back to the movie while pretending not to notice Kirsten's hand becoming higher on his thigh.

"Hey Tor, look your pals got her hand on Steve's leg!" Soda excitedly spilled out.

Tori glanced over to see. "Yep, I guess she likes him." Tori said in a sombre tone.

"What's up? You seem sad." Soda asked with a look of concern on his face.

"Oh its nothin' just got a bit jealous!" Tori laughed nervously.

"You fancy Steve? You? Really?" Soda urged the question, his heart sunk.

"No! I mean of the whole situation. Never mind. Let's just forget I ever brought it up!"

"No, I mean okay, if that's what you want." Soda was concocting a plan as he spoke, although what his intentions were he was unsure, however he did know he liked Tori, she was flirty and he liked that. "So which one of the guys you got your eyes on?"

"Ha, wouldn't you like to know! And who's to say I fancy any of them!" Tori's eyes flirtily danced over Soda's body, smiled and turned back to the film. Soda leaned forward and gently pulled Tori around so she was facing him.

"What!" Tori smiled, and said, "Really I don't fancy any of your friends. There you happy now."

"Em, yeah I suppose, anyway I wasn't gonna ask you, just wanted to see your smile again. Its pretty intense!" Soda sat nervously twidiling a small section of his shirt, patiently waiting for a response.

"Intense? Ha! Didn't know a smile could be intense. That's rather creative. I like it."

"You do huh? And what else do you like?" Soda said. His body was becoming increasingly twisted towards Tori.

"I like loads of stuff, like…"

"Like…?" Soda's eyes were fixated on Tori, anticipating the answer.

"Like you, and films, and clothes and you know things that all girls like," Tori quickly pretended like she hadn't admitted that, in all honesty, she thought Soda was hot.

"Like me?…" Soda's voice trailed off. Had he heard right? Soda had liked Tori for a while, if she liked him, how hadn't he noticed?

Tori turned to look at Soda. "Yeah, I like you. That's why I don't like your friends. I like _you_ Sodapop."

He had heard right. She did like him. Or was she lying? But why would she lie? No one else was listening. But he had heard she was a player. Should he kiss her? He had nothing to lose.

Soda leaned in and kissed Tori. His full lips met her soft, strawberry flavoured lips. The kiss was soft and still passionate.

The film ended. Ponyboy, Johnny and Dally walked ahead.

"Can't believe Soda pulled her! And I got stuck with smelly Shelly, the quiet one. The goody two shoes! Great huh!" Dally sulked as he made the journey home.

"Was she really smelly?" Pony asked interested by this fact.

"No,not really she was just so dull. She told me her whole life story! Geez! I would have rather watched the film!" Dally shot back.

Whilst Soda and Tori had been getting better acquainted, Leigh and Two-Bit made out, and Steve and Kirsten hit it off real well, Dally had started chatting to Shelly, but she rejected him. Not because of his looks, she thought Dally was fine looking, but she didn't like the idea of someone with a police record. However they chatted for a bit, and Dally found out that Shelly was pretty boring, and he didn't really know why she was hanging around with Tori, Leigh and Kirsten as they seemed totally different to her.

"Anyway, we'll see you guys tomorrow. Am gonna walk Leigh home and then

go home myself yeah? See you later!" Two-Bit announced.

"Okay see you! Don't do anything I wouldn't do. And be careful!" Tori joked back.

Two-Bit and Leigh walked off down Cormorant Avenue, holding hands. Shortly afterwards Steve went home, as did Kirsten and Shelly. The group of five approached Lingford Road, and Tori stopped in her tracks. "Well guess this is my stop. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school if you actually turn up!"

Soda leaned in and kissed Tori. The kiss was deep and meaningful. He smiled at her.

"Goodnight." He watched as her delicate slender frame entered the house and disappeared into the darkness.

"How did you manage that?" Dally questioned, a look of disbelief over his mischievous face. Ponyboy looked from his brother to Dally, waiting for the answer.

"I just don't know Dal, I just don't know. Guess it just happened! Didn't even know she liked me. Anyway was just a kiss right? I mean she never asked for anything other than a kiss. In fact she didn't ask for that!" Soda exclaimed remembering.

"Geez, I don't know how you do it! Well you guys I'm hitting the hay. Night." And with this Dally turned a corner and disappeared into the shadows.

"Johnny Cake, you wanna stop at ours? Its pretty late and you know your welcome?" Soda asked Johnny.

"Sure, beats living at home." Johnny thought to himself that it wouldn't make a difference if he were at home or not. Nobody cared.

"Come on the Soda. We better be getting back. Shoot, you know what Darry's like on a school night! Well we'll just have to tell him the reason were late is because you were making out with Tori Jameson and see what he says." Pony teased.

Darry was the oldest of the three Curtis brothers. He was taller and more muscular than Soda, and had cared for his brothers since his parents died. He had excitable green eyes, and mousy hair. Darry was the oldest of the gang, and certainly the most mature. The death of their parents had made him grow old before his time.


	2. The Morning After

As the clock struck eight am, in the Curtis household, the sound of Darry's voice boomed upstairs. "Ponyboy! Sodapop! Get up! You will be late for school and before you say anything, you're going! Both of you. Get up."

Soda slowly opened his eyes, a glare of sunlight streamed through the window, blinding him. His first instinct was to pull his blue quilt over his head and go back to sleep, but he realised that wasn't going to happen. Another boom of Darry's thundering voice, made him sit upright in his bed, he glanced at the clock. Eight o' five. Ponyboy sat up and plodded out of their room into the bathroom. _Damn! I bet Pony takes ages._ Suddenly amid his thoughts Soda thought of the night before. It seemed ages ago. He started thinking of what it was going to be like at school with Tori. Was it just a kiss? Well he'd find out sooner or later, he guessed. Soda made his way down stairs, and into the kitchen. Darry and Johnny were already sitting, fully clothed, tucking into what looked like a big stack of pancakes, but you never could be too sure with Darry's cooking.

"Heard you got a girlfriend!" Darry exclaimed through a mouthful of pancakes. Johnny looked and smiled.

"She's not my girlfriend. It was just a kiss. Anyway, where's my breakfast?" Soda glanced around the kitchen expecting to see another stack of pancakes. However the kitchen benches were empty.

"Haven't made you any. Didn't think you would be going to school today. But obviously this girls the driving force! Ha! What's her name again? Terri? Toni?"

"Its Tori. And she's not the reason I'm going to school. Okay. I just thought I'd go today." The white bathroom door creaked open. Soda turned and ran upstairs. It was quarter past eight. "Pony, if you'd been in there any longer I'd have expected you to have fallen down the toilet! Move outta the way. I need a shower."

"Ha, damn right you do. Sodapop Curtis you stink!" Pony laughed. "And besides you wouldn't want to be all dirty for _Tori _would you!"

"Shut it Pony. Least I can actually get a girl."

Half an hour later and Johnny, Soda and Pony were on their way to school.

Tori, Leigh and Kirsten were sitting in English, talking before the lesson started.

"So, you guys I have something to tell you." Leigh began. Tori and Kirsten looked intrigued. Leigh briefly glanced around the room, making sure no one was listening. "Well you know last night? When Keith walked me home?"

"Who's Keith?" Kirsten asked confused.

"Oh, Keith's Two-Bit, well that's his real name anyhow. Well when he walked me home, I sorta, invited him in. and…." Leigh trailed off, a smile spread across her face.

"Oh my God! You slept with him? Leigh!" Tori was startled but excited by this news. Leigh had only really known Two-Bit off the night before, and she wasn't really the sort of person to have one nightstands.

"Well yeah I did. Don't worry I was careful. It was good though. I'm meant to be bunking off this afternoon and go to his. But I haven't decided if I am yet." Leigh was grinning. "Anyway before you two say anything, you both pulled, and I'm guessing something happened. It always does with you Tori!"

"I am not a slag! I don't sleep around Leigh. But for your information, I only kissed Soda." Tori glanced at her watch. "I knew he wouldn't be in today. He probably regrets it."

"Shut up Tor, I think he digs you, I've said that for a while. And as for me and Steve, well I had a bit of a feel but that's it, well except kissing." Kirsten stated in a matter of fact way.

The door creaked open. In walked Soda.

"Well Tor, we'll leave you to it." Leigh and Kirsten walked away from Tori and sat in their seats.

Miss Graham, the English teacher, walked in the room. "Sit down class. Today we will be reviewing Shakespeare and Act 2 Sc 1 of 'Macbeth' so if you could all turn to the beginning of the scene please. Oh Mr. Curtis how nice of you to join us."

"Yep it is, isn't it?" Soda remarked.

"Sit down, and be quiet. Now you will work with the person you are sitting with and discuss the language and themes in this scene. I'll be back in five minutes I am going to get some worksheets off Mr Johnston, behave yourselves!" And with that Miss Graham walked out of the room.

Soda walked to the back of the classroom and sat down next to Tori.

"Hey there," Soda remarked smiling.

"Hey, didn't think you were coming in." Tori couldn't help smiling.

"Yeah, I wasn't gonna but Darry made me. Plus I sorta had to." Soda stared at Tori awaiting a response. She looked confused.

"What do you mean you had to?" She asked anxiously.

"Well, so things weren't awkward between us, you know, after last night…" Soda's voice trailed off. He lowered his head and rested it on his right hand. There was an awkward silence. "So what you thinking?" He was curious. Had it really meant nothing?

"Nothing really. Well except I'm confused about what happened." Tori had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Any moment she could be rejected, and feel humiliated. After all why would Soda go for her?

"Tori! We kissed. That's what happened. And you told me that you like me." Soda looked at her, he was nervous.

"Yeah I know. We kissed. Nothing more." Tori decided to steer the conversation away from last night. It was getting awkward- and that was a situation she didn't want to be in.

"Nothing more? But I thought you said you liked me?" Soda's voice was becoming slightly high pitched and anxious.

"Yeah and I do. But how can it be anything more if it's only a one way thing?" Tori looked angry, _why is he trying to humiliate me!_ Tori thought frantically searching for a reason.

"But…" Soda trailed off. He didn't like admitting things like this. He didn't want to get laughed at. "I do like you. I thought you would of realised that last night." Soda looked up at Tori, his cheeks were slightly flushed. He smiled gently.

Tori smiled. _Oh my God! He likes me! He's so cute!_ Thoughts were rushing through her head.

"So you wanna do something tonight?" Soda asked hopefully.

"Yeah we could do. What you got in mind?"

"You could come hang round my house. The boys will be round, so you could bring your friends if you like?" Soda grinned.

"Well I'll check with them and get back to you."

Deep down Tori wished it was just going to be her and Soda, but at least she was going to see him, and more to the point… he liked her.

Two hours later, Tori and her friends were sitting in a vacant lot having some dinner. The four girls were discussing their plans for that night.

"What did he say then?" Leigh questioned Tori. "We know he said something, you two were grinning like Cheshire cats!"

"He just said, that he likes me. And asked what I was doing tonight." Tori grinned. She was excited.

"Wow! See I told you he digs you! Ah bless him. I bet it took some guts to tell you that!" Kirsten jumped in her seat.

"You still bunking off this afternoon?" Tori enquired, eagerly staring at Leigh.

"Nope, I can't, I've got a presentation. I thought it was next week. What a gutter!" Leigh looked sad, as if all of her dreams had been crushed.

"Well you can still see him tonight…" Tori trailed off and waited for a response.

"What? What do you mean?" Leigh asked suspiciously. Leigh, Kirsten and Shelly looked at Tori. _What was she talking about?_

"Well Soda asked if we fancied going over his tonight. All the guys will be there. Please! Two-Bit, Dally and Steve will be there! Ah come on, it will be the perfect opportunity." Tori pleaded with her friends.

"I'm up for it, if you two are!" Kirsten exclaimed. Her and Tori looked at Shelly and Leigh.

"Yeah okay I'm in. You win Tori, you get to see him after all!" Leigh smiled. "Shell, do you fancy it? Dallas Winston will be there…"

"Nope, I'll give it a miss thanks. And anyway who said I liked Dallas Winston? He's cute n' all but he's a bit too naughty for me." Shelly thought to herself _why would I want to be stuck in a room with Dallas Winston- yeah sure he was cute and sweet but he was bad. And bad guys didn't stay sweet for long. _

Meanwhile Two-Bit was telling Soda and Steve about his conquest the night before.

"….But I'm telling you it was worth it. See you two just don't have the charm I have or else you woulda been laid too!" Two-Bit exclaimed.

"Yeah, Bit, I'm sure. Maybe she was desperate and well me n Soda were already busy so you were the only legal to have sex left! Ha!" Steve exclaimed. He and Soda were laughing.

"You guys, you coming round mine tonight? You can see if she really was desperate Bit, she's coming round mine, with Tori, and Kirsten too. Might get lucky again Two-Bit! Or your luck could just run out! Ha!" Soda laughed.

"When did this happen like?" Steve questioned.

"Mentioned it to Tori in English. Just thought I'd be able to set you guys up." Soda remarked pretending he had his friend's best interests at heart.

"I see. Yeah why not, I was going to come round anyway." Steve shrugged.

"I'm in. Might get some more action! Ha! Nah, just joking, she's cool. And from the sounds of it you think Tori's more than cool. She has got a nice bum!" Two-Bit exclaimed smiling wickedly.

"Hey! Yeah she has. She's fine." Soda's eyes were hazed.

"Shoot, you really dig her don't you Soda?" Steve asked observing Soda's dazed expression.

"Yeah well, come on you guys we better get back to class."

Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit walked slowly back through the steel heavy gates of their school and back towards their lessons. The sun was beaming down on them. The weather was too nice to be in school, Soda thought, but going to school today, well that had been worthwhile. He smiled to himself; the morning, after all, had been a success.


	3. The Unthinkable

The rusty, old doorbell attached to the Curtis house, rang. Darry jumped; frustrated that he was being distracted from his daily newspaper. It took him a few seconds to recognise the sharp sound.

Had someone really just rang the doorbell? Who could it be? No one ever rang it. Everyone simply just walked in. Darry stood up and made his way to the flimsy wooden door. He pulled the bronzed door handle and looked to greet the visitor.

To Darry's surprise, standing there was three attractive girls. Had they got the right house? Darry thought, a look of confusion spread across his stern, distinctive face.

"Hey…" he said, unsure at what was actually going to happen. "Can I help you?"

"Hey," the longhaired brunette said, she smiled warmly. "I'm Tori, this is Kirsten and Leigh, em, Soda invite…is Soda in?" Tori blushed; maybe they had gotten the wrong house.

"Oh you're Tori!" a smile spread across Darry's face. "Yeah he's in, come on in. Sorry no one told me we were expecting visitors!"

Tori, Leigh and Kirsten followed Darry into his house. It wasn't like Leigh had expected, it was warm and friendly, like a sanctuary.

"Soda!" Darry exclaimed, "Your friends are here."

"What?" Soda walked into the living room. It was clear he had just been in the shower, his dark hair was jewelled with water droplets, and his tanned, toned muscular body was wet. He had a towel draped round his waist; with his right hand he was drying his face with another blue towel. _He looks gorgeous; _Tori thought to herself, her mouth was slightly open. Soda saw the three girls standing there. He blushed. "Shit, Sorry! I'll just go and put some clothes on." Soda turned and ran towards his room.

Kirsten looked at Tori and smiled. Suddenly the front door burst open.

"Shoot, you guys really don't have a clue! Just wait till Buck goes away. I'll be in charge of my very own house for a whole two weeks!" Dally exclaimed. Buck was Dally's friend and rodeo partner; they went back a long time. Buck was going out of town for a couple of weeks to lay low, and he was going to leave Dally with his house keys. Dally turned and saw Tori, Leigh and Kirsten sitting on the battered, old settee, "Hey." Steve and Two-Bit followed his gaze, Two-Bit smiled.

"Hi babe." He greeted Leigh, grabbed the remote and switched the TV on to Mickey Mouse. "Budge up. There's not enough room on this couch for me!" Two-Bit tried to squeeze on to the settee, next to Leigh.

Soda made his way into the living room. "Anyone wanna drink?" He asked.

"Yeah, I wanna beer!" Steve shouted back at his friend.

"Tori? Kirsten? Leigh? You wanna beer?" Soda asked.

"Yeah please." Leigh stated, just as Two-Bit pushed a cold can into her hands. "Actually I'm okay, I've got one!"

"I'll have one," Kirsten smiled at Soda; he was anxiously waiting Tori's answer. "Tori, are you having a drink?" Kirsten nudged Tori.

"Oh yeah, sorry! I was engrossed in the TV! Do you want a hand?" Tori asked Soda, she felt a bit out of place, in the sitting room. Darry kept looking at her, opening his mouth as if he was going to say something but words failed him.

"Yeah, if you like." Soda shrugged, grateful of the help. Tori followed him into the kitchen. "Hey Tori, you didn't say hello."

"Hello, then Soda." Tori cheekily pushed Soda up against the fridge; her body was pressed up against his. Soda slid his hands around her small waist and stared in her eyes. They leaned in and shared a passionate kiss, what seemed like ages only lasted seconds, as the pair were rudely interrupted.

"Oi! Soda, thought you were getting me a beer!" Steve walked in. "I can see you got distracted so I'll just get the drinks instead huh," Steve laughed grabbed some beers and left the room.

"I've wanted to do that all day, Soda." Tori smirked. She ran her hand down his chest and kept eye contact he pulled her in for another kiss. However this didn't last long either.

"Sorry to disturb you" Darry grinned, "But do you wanna watch a movie?"

Tori looked at Soda, then back to Darry, "Sure." She smiled, and walked back towards the living room.

A few hours had passed and the film had finished. The gang and the girls were laughing and telling stories.

"I can't believe Buck's leaving you with his house! It'll be non-existent by the time he comes back!" Darry exclaimed laughing at the proposition of Dally looking after a house.

"Well, I just thought parties, broads, you know, things like that! I think it'll be real fun. And I'm pretty sure how ever much you guys think that I cant manage it, well I'm sure you'll come to the parties! Isn't that so?" Dally laughed excitedly, a wild, reckless smile was stamped on his face.

"Yeah, sure we'll be there." Pony said, he looked at Darry, waiting approval.

"Your not going Pony, parties at Buck's, well shoot, things always happen." Darry scowled.

"Ah shoot, Darry I'll not get in trouble. You know that. Just let me go… please." Pony pleaded.

"We'll talk about this later Pony."

Two-Bit was wrapped around Leigh like a blanket, kissing her neck. He whispered into her ear; "Do you want to go someplace quieter?" Leigh looked at Two-Bit and smiled. "Shoot, y'all I'm tired, gonna walk Leigh home and hit the hay." Two-Bit remarked between pretend yawns.

"Yeah, sure your tired, see you Bit, Leigh, night." Steve sarcastically stated. He turned back to see that Kirsten was actually asleep. _Great!_ He thought to himself. _Fuck all for Steve. _Kirsten suddenly woke up.

"Geez, what time is it?" She asked sleepily.

"Ten thirty, well just after," Darry informed her.

"I better be going. Got to be up early tomorrow, got to do a shift at the hospital before school. Leigh is it okay if I walk with you guys?" Kirsten said putting her jacket on.

"Yeah, it is. Later guys. Thanks." Leigh, Kirsten and Two-Bit said their goodbyes and left the Curtis house.

"Geez, it's nearly eleven. I think I'm gonna go to bed. Nice meeting you Tori. Keep the noise down Soda, and Pony don't stay up too late. Night everyone." Darry stood up and went upstairs.

Soda, Tori, Dally, Steve, Pony and Johnny, sat down stairs, and talked some more. Dally was bragging about the amount of drink he could hold. He had already drank quite a considerable amount that night, and his words were becoming slurred.

"Do yous know sumthn', am the best rideo kid in this side of Tulsa. Even the bull himself couldn't knock me off my back." Dally wasn't making any sense.

"Hey Dal, your pissed. Go to sleep!" Pony yawned.

"I am not pissed. I haven't even been drinkin'. Tori do you wanna come to bed with me? Ha ha. Soda you shoudla seen your face." Dally laughed hysterically. Soda, Steve, Tori, Johnny and Pony were laughing at Dally as he tried to pull himself up, "Hey, my legs are wobbly, my legs are jelly legs. Hey Coca-Cola, make me a cancer stick! I'm going home. See you lot later. Ha ha smell you later!"

Dally stumbled out of the door and went home. Half an hour later Pony and Johnny were in bed and Steve had fallen asleep on the chair. Tori and Soda lay on the settee. Soda was running his hand through her soft dark hair.

"God, you're beautiful!" Soda exclaimed. Tori smiled and blushed slightly. _This is perfect_, she thought, _Soda is perfect. _

"Hey Sodapop, what's happening with us?" Tori asked. She didn't want to spoil the moment but after all, she didn't know what was happening.

"Well I presumed we were dating. As in girlfriend/boyfriend. But that's if you want it to be that way I suppose its up to you." Soda smiled. He hoped that it was what Tori wanted.

"Yeah, that's how I want it to be. I like you a lot. "Tori thought to herself, _Oh my God, Sodapop Curtis is my boyfriend! Oh my God!_

Tori and Soda kissed for a while, before they carried on watching TV. Hours past and silence fell upon the room. The two lovers fell asleep on the old comfy settee.

It was seven am. In the country the birds sang to the golden rays of the early morning sun. However Tulsa was not the country. And in Tulsa, a twenty year old walked down the stairs fully clothed ready to start the hard day ahead.

"Oi lazy bones! Get up." Darry shouted.

"Shoot, what time is it?" Tori asked sitting up rubbing her eyes.

"Seven. You three going to school today?" Darry asked.

"SEVEN! Shit! I musta fell asleep. My Moms gonna kill me!" Tori stood up and ran to the mirror. "I look a mess I can't go to school like this!"

"You look fine babe. Go home and get changed before you go to school. Or you could just stop off with me?" Soda sat with a cheeky grin over his face.

"Looks like im gonna have to stop off. I can't go home now, they'll kill me! I'll have to brave it later. You don't mind do you Darry? Im gonna be in so much trouble." Tori sat down on the settee with her head in her hands.

"Course I don't mind. And who's they? Your Mom and Dad?" Darry asked concerned.

"Thanks, my Mom and John her fiancé, I hate him, he hates me, any excuse to… " Tori faded out she couldn't tell them about the real John. The soc John, the prejudiced John, the John with the strength to be a sumo-wrestler, the John who only cared about himself and his twisted son, the John who was a black belt in Judo, Karate and any other martial art you could think of. He classed himself as, The Man.

"Any excuse to what, Tori?" Soda asked, he put his arm around her.

"Just to shout and complain at me. Its nothing really just annoying." Tori brushed off the conversation and tried not to think about it. Think about the horror that waited for her when she stepped in her own front door.

"Come on then lets go back to bed." Soda said, he sat up, yawned and started to get up.

Darry grunted disapprovingly and when Soda only closed his eyes in responded, he cracked. "No, Sodapop Patrick Curtis, get to school. Get an education, or get to work."

"Ah Darry, really I'm tired, I'm working tonight so just let me sleep today. I don't feel well, anyway who will stay in with Tori? After all she can't go home can she?" Soda argued.

"Right Soda, but you better start stickin' in at school. You don't wanna be workin' at the DX all your life do ya?" Darry sighed.

"Well, shoot, Darry, I like my job." Soda grinned. He looked over to Steve who was still asleep on the chair.

"No, you like all those girls that visit you. Shoot Soda, you wouldn't know hard work if it came right up to you and bit you on the nose!" Darry exclaimed.

Tori looked at Soda. What did Darry mean? What girls? Did Soda have a few girlfriends? Tori thought to herself, she ought to ask him; after all she wasn't going to be another in a long line of girls. The shrill sharp sound of the kettle broke Tori's thoughts.

An hour passed. The hustle and bustle of the Curtis house on a morning was homely. Darry rushed around sorting everyone's breakfasts out. Johnny got dressed quickly. Pony took a while longer, applying a more than adequate amount of grease to thick hair.

Steve had woken up, ate his breakfast, had a quick shower and left to go to school.

At ten past nine the house was quiet. All except for Tori and Soda had left.

The couple sat in the sitting room, on the battered in settee. Tori looked over at Soda who was engrossed in the TV. "Soda, what did Darry mean by 'all of those girls' that come to see you at work?" Tori braced herself for what she expected to be a disappointing answer.

"Well, just some girls. They sometimes come to see me at work. Try to get me to give them a kiss n stuff. Mosta them are younger, like Pony's age or something, but I don' know they just always seem to be there when I'm at work," Soda stared into Tori's green eyes. He looked confused. "Why you asking Tori?"

"I don't know just interested I guess. So do you give them kisses?" Tori asked, her heart was racing.

"Well, sometimes. I guess, well not since I started kissing you. Is that what your worried of? In case I kiss one of them while I'm seeing you?" Soda realised all of his mucking about at work had to stop.

"In a way, yes. I don't want to be one of many, Soda. I don't want to be taken for a ride and I don't want to get hurt." Tori confessed.

"Geez, Tori do you honestly think I'd treat you like that? Guess you don't know me too well then. Huh? I'll never hurt you. And I certainly wont be kissing no one else but you." Soda smiled. His smile melted into a kiss. The kiss was passionate and meaningful. The world around them seemed to melt away. Tori began to forget the troubles, the troubles that surrounded and suffocated her everywhere she turned. The troubles she could never escape, the ones that haunted her dreams, the ones that stood as a shadow when she was awake.


	4. Nightmare Reality

It was four pm. Tori made her way down the path towards Lingford Road. She could feel the rays of the warm sun beating down on her long dark hair, which glistened in the sunlight. She turned a corner and arrived at her street. She walked a short distance until reaching her house, walked up the steps and opened the wooden door.

The house was cool. Tori shivered. The air-conditioning was up way too high. She walked over to the cooler, and turned it down. The front door creaked open. Tori spun on her heels, anxious to see who it was. Thankfully it was her mother.

Janet Jameson was a tired looking woman, in her mid forties. Her dusty blonde hair hung lifeless around her shoulders. She stopped and looked at her daughter. Her face was saddened and grave.

"Hey Mom…." Tori started to speak but was interrupted by her mother.

"Tori, where were you last night! I was worried sick. Why didn't you call?" Tori's mother looked scared.

"Mom, I can explain. I was just at Kirsten's, I fell asleep. By the time I woke up it was too late to call, so I stopped the night and went to school this morning. I'm sorry." Tori lied.

"Don't lie to me Tori, I know you weren't at Kirsten's. John rang around your friends last night. We know you slept at that boy's house. Tori, if only you had rang. If you'd told us where you were- well told us you were at a friends… then maybe John wouldn't be so angry. Maybe things would be different…" Janet trailed off. She sat down, and put her head in her hands.

"Mom, what's happened? Are you okay? I'm really sorry. I didn't think." Tori started to think the worst, and however much she'd enjoyed herself at Soda's she wished she had just come home.

"It's Nathan. He's walked out. He's had enough. Went to stop at his girlfriends. John went crazy last night. He got real angry when you didn't come home. Took it out on Nathan. He hit him. It was the last straw."

"Nathan's gone…?" Tori's eyes started to fill up with tears. _How could he leave? _She thought, he was the one who had stopped her from running away so many times before. It was Nathan who had kept her going when their father had died, seven years ago. It was Nathan who had kept their Mom focussed and helped get them through it, even though it was really hard on him as well. "Oh, Mom, it's all my fault. Is Nathan okay? I can't believe he's left." Tori sobbed.

"Nathan's fine, he's just had enough of John." Janet's heart sunk. She was trapped. Her oldest son had left home because of her fiancé, John, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Tori…" Her Mom started to speak. The front door swung open. In walked John accompanied by his fourteen-year-old son.

John was 6ft 2 at least and built like a bull. He had brown hair combed over to one side, smothered in what only could be described as chip pan grease. His eyes were dark and cold.

His son was a smaller carbon copy of John. His name was Simon. He was as cruel and as calculated as his father, and they were both highly stuck up.

John turned and looked in the living room, to see the tear-stained faces of his fiancé and her daughter.

"What the fuck have you been crying for?" John bellowed.

"Oh, John. I'm sorry. I was just telling Tori about Nathan. I'm sorry." Janet cowered in John's shadow.

"Shut the fuck up. You are getting right on my nerves. Crying over that good for nothing waste of space you call your son. Its about time he left he's fucking nineteen for Christ sake. It'll be too soon if I ever see him again! And you, Tori. Where the fuck were you last night? You little whore." John closed in on Tori and pushed her Mom's fragile frame out of the way. Tori was shaking.

"I, I slept at a friends…" Tori's green eyes widened and her face was becoming blotchy as tears flooded from her eyes.

"YOU LIAR!" John screamed. He raised his fist and swung for Tori. She dodged his swing and made a run for it. She ran upstairs and stood against her bedroom door. Her chest was heaving. John belted up the stairs and began banging on the door.

Tori could hear her mother begging John. "Please leave her alone," her mother sobbed with desperation. A shrill scream was heard, followed by stumbling, bumping and banging sounds.

"Ha ha. Serves you right you stupid bitch." John howled. His son cackled simultaneously.

Tori swung open her bedroom door to see John had thrown her mother down to the floor, her eyes were tearstained, and she looked terrified. Before Tori could open her mouth, John had pushed her to the floor. She hit her head on what she could only guess was the corner of her chest of drawers. The next events were blurred except for the memory of pain. It happened so fast. It ended so fast. The last Tori remembered John say was something like "Don't bother coming home after school tomorrow". John left. Tori's mother had picked herself up and made her way to her daughter who was curled up on the floor sobbing and in pain.

"Are you okay Tori? I'm sorry." Her mother held her daughters shivering body.

"I'm okay." Tori sobbed, she wasn't okay. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine honey. Don't worry about me."

"Mom, I'm gonna stay at a friends for a while. I can't stand this. I, I just can't take it anymore." Tori burst into tears.

Her mother stayed quiet. She knew it was for the best. She wished John had never come into their lives, however she was too scared to leave him. He had threatened her. She didn't want anyone getting hurt. And besides everything was okay when Nathan and Tori weren't around. No matter how much she hated him, she couldn't help forgive him when they were alone. He was such a different person. He would never hit her or hurt her. He just used her children to hurt and manipulate her. And that's how he got his own way.

An hour later Tori was changed and had a bag packed. She said goodbye to her mother and told her she was going to stop with Nathan, which was a bit of a lie. In all honesty she didn't want to worry Nathan, she didn't know where to go. She left her house sporting a nice shiny black eye, and walked towards the park. No one would be there she thought, time was getting on.

She sat on the swing and began to think. She could go see Soda at work. But what about her black eye? Suppose she could say she had been jumped. But how would she explain leaving home? She could just make something up. But she had just started going out with Soda, she couldn't lie to him, and she couldn't bother him with all her problems.

After a while it started to rain. She decided to go to the DX she would decide what to say when she got there.

Tori turned the corner. The rain was getting heavy. Through the waterfall of raindrops she could make out a shifty looking figure. Was it a soc? She hoped not. But soc's wouldn't usually walk around greaser territory alone. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the droplets of water as they dripped down her forehead. The figure was becoming closer and closer. Still the stranger's identity was unclear. Tori was becoming increasingly worried. Whoever it was she didn't want to come to blows with, her day had become increasingly worse and she didn't really want to be bumping into some soc.

"Hey Tori, is that you?" the stranger raised his hand above his head in an attempt to block the rain out of his view. She assumed he was male, well if the stranger wasn't; she had an exceptionally deep masculine voice. The stranger repeated his question. "Tori, is that you?"

Hesitantly, Tori replied, "Yeah who's that?" She was confused, the voice sounded familiar.

"It's Dally." The voice, apparently belonging to Dallas Winston, replied. Tori sighed with relief.

"Hey." She said smiling. Dally approached her, his black leather jacket soaked through. "What you doing out here in the rain?"

"Just been to Darry's, on my way home, Buck's gone away so I've got the house to myself! What bout you? Geez Tori! What's happened to your eye? You been jumped?"

"What? Ah no. It was Joh.. I mean nothing just walked into something its nothing really. I'm just walking around thinking." Tori nervously fumbled with a section of her wet tangled hair.

"You're just walking? Yeah Tori. You wanna talk? You can come over to Bucks. Just to talk if you wanna. Get out of the rain?" Dally looked up at the sky, rain splattered in his eyes. He blinked.

"Yeah I suppose so. Guess it beats standing talking in the rain." Dally grinned, and motioned his arm for Tori to follow him.

They arrived at a house not far away. The journey was silent and quick. Tori followed Dally into the musty, dark house. She was cold and wet, and thinking about it, she probably looked a right mess. Dally turned on the lights. The room lit up. Buck must really like Hank Williams, Tori thought staring round the room. The walls were covered in posters of him.

"Dally, do you mind if I go get changed?" Tori asked clutching her bag.

"No course not. Actually that's a good point I think I will I'm soaked to the bone!" Dally said taking off his jacket, shortly followed by his white t-shirt. His bare chest was gleaming with water droplets. "The bathroom's just upstairs straight ahead. Help yourself to a towel." Dally said.

Tori smiled, went upstairs and got changed. Not long after she was downstairs sitting on the sofa. Dally was sitting on the chair opposite.

"Geez, Tori your eye looks, well it's a beauty!" Dally said. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Thanks Dal. It was an accident that's all." Tori said, fidgeting with her top.

"Yeah, who done it Tori?" Dally asked narrowing his eyes.

"It doesn't matter. It's just nothing. Leave it."

"Tori I wont leave it. Someone's hurt you. Just tell me who. I wont say anything. Was it Soda?" Dally asked anxiously.

"What? No! It was my step dad okay. Stop bugging me!" Tori waited for the laughter, no wait she heard laughter. The shrill, sharp, cackling of John.

"Shoot, Tori, you okay? You can't go back there tonight." Dally said in shock.

"I know I can't. He kicked me out." Tori started to cry.

Dally felt uneasy. He glanced around the room, as if waiting for someone to tell him what to do. He went over to the settee where Tori was sitting and hesitantly put his arm around her.

"Tori, you'll be alright. Have you told Soda? Is this the first time it's happened? You don't have to tell me but you know you can."

"No, I was going to tell Soda, I was gonna go over the DX, but I saw you first. I don't wanna worry him. I've just started going out with him I can't just land all my problems on him. Its not the first time John's done it, he does it all the time whenever he feels like it. He made my brother leave." Tori cried, normally she wouldn't cry in front of people she didn't really know, but right at this minute she didn't care, she was hurt.

"Fuck, Tor, I didn't know. I guess no one knows things that go on inside peoples houses. Guess you don't see your old man much then?"

"He died. Seven years ago. My Mom's been with John for about three years now. She's a shadow of the person she used to be. John was okay the first year and a half. Then he proposed. He changed started bossing Mom about and threatening her with hurting Nathan or me. At first it wasn't that bad, just if we done something bad. But then, it got to a point it was whenever he felt like it. He doesn't hit my Mom, just mainly me, and sometimes Nathan, but Nathan fights back. He doesn't hit his son. His son, Simon, he'slike a mini-John. I hate them. I hate them both." Tori was shaking, why was she telling Dally her life story? She didn't know him.

"Geez, am sorry. I don't know what to say really. Shoot, I'm no good at these sorts of things. He sounds like a right loser."

"Yeah I guess, I should shut up really. You don't wanna be listening to this. What are your folks like?" Tori asked trying to change the subject.

"Well. They're dead. Well as far as I'm concerned. They don't want nothing to do with me. I guess they never will. Doesn't really bother me." Dally looked at Tori, whose eyes widen.

Tori sat looking at Dally. _Shit I've just been telling him my problems. He's got his own. _

"So, how's things with you and Soda? I didn't know you were going out with him." Dally changed the topic of conversation, he could tell the previous one had been painful.

"Well, okay I guess. I only started going out with him last night. I fell asleep there and stopped the night, that's why John kicked off. But I do really like him. He's so gorgeous!" Tori's smile was beaming.

A few hours past and Tori and Dally continued to talk, Dally told Tori a bit about the gang and some of the crazy things they've done as well as the heroic tales of rumbles with the soc's and some of the things what happened when he used to live in New York. The pair fell asleep downstairs. Tori was shattered. It had been a long day.


	5. Dally's Party

Tori woke up quite early, around seven am. She looked around the room. Sunlight was streaming through the window. Tori squinted as she was blinded. She sat up and looked over to the sofa where Dally was sleeping. He was breathing deeply and looked comfortable. Tori thought she better not disturb him. She went upstairs towards the bathroom, in attempt to cover her black eye. _You could guess this a guy lived here,_ Tori thought as she glanced at the various bottles of aftershave and hair grease.

Ten minutes later and Tori emerged from the bathroom. Her bruised eye was still visible but didn't look as bad as it once had. She walked down the crooked staircase and into the living room.

Dally was sat upright smoking a cigarette. He glanced up. Tori was standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Morning Tori. Where you going in such a hurry?" Dally asked taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Hi," Tori smiled, "I was thinking about heading off to school. I was gonna wake you before I left. Thanks for letting me stay."

"It's no bother at all. Anytime. Why are you going to school? It's Friday. Soda won't be there; he'll be at the DX. Why don't you go home, get some stuff- clothes and stuff, go see Soda, and tell him what's happened. Then you and Soda can come to my party tonight. This house will be rocking! What do you say? You can invite your friends too if you like." Dally's eyes blazed with excitement.

Tori stood and thought about it. She wanted to see Soda. If he wasn't going to school today then why should she. Everyone would ask questions about her eye, although most people would think it was due to being jumped by a soc, Tori knew it wasn't.

"Yeah, why not. I'll go home soon then, get some things. What you got planned for the rest of the day?" Tori wondered aloud, she knew tonight was going to be fun, and at the minute that's what she wanted.

"I'm going over Tim's house. Gonna round the gang up for tonight's festivities!"

It was three pm; Soda and Steve were working at the DX. Steve was working on a car while singing along to some song on the radio. Soda on the other hand was absent-mindedly chatting to one of the girls who regularly came into see him. This girl wasn't very attractive but he didn't mind talking to her. She was in Ponyboy's year at school and mostly, she asked Soda for advice. He wasn't much good at it, however he tried.

"Well I better get going." Steve heard the girl say.

"Yeah see ya." Soda said, he turned to walk into the back room. "Hey Steve, you going to Dally's party?"

"Yeah probably. Got nothin' else to do. Anyway, I might get lucky! Ha!" Steve laughed from under the car.

"Yeah you might. There will be loads of broads. It is Dally's party."

"True. Is your girlfriend going?"

"Yeah, probably. I hope so. Why?" Soda asked.

"Just wondering. She's cool." Steve stated.

"Who's cool?" Tori asked, as she peered her head round the door. "Sorry the door was open. I shouted through, but I guess you didn't hear me." Soda spun around to see his girlfriend. His eyes darted to her bruised eye.

"What's happened Tori?" He asked bringing his hand toward her eye. Tori flinched.

"Oh, that. It was just an accident. My step-dad fell and well hit me by an accident." Tori could feel herself becoming flushed, she was embarrassed.

"That don't look like no accident. Your step-dad hit you? Geez, why didn't you come and see me? When did it happen?" Soda's eyes looked scared. He panicked. Why hadn't Tori come to him? Had it really been an accident?

"Last night. I was going to come and see you, but I got caught in the rainstorm and bumped into Dally. I went to Buck's; he let me stay there. I'm sorry Soda. I didn't know what to do." Tori's eyes started to fill up. This would be the second time she had cried in the last two days. She fought back the tears and buried her head into Sodapop's chest.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's gonna be all better soon." Soda hugged Tori tightly. He didn't know what to say in this situation, so he just hugged her, hoping he would make her feel better.

"I don't really want to talk about it." Tori desperately searched for a topic to change the conversation. "So, are you going to Dally's party tonight?"

"Em, yeah I think so. Well, if you are." Soda smiled.

"What about you Steve?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, I am. Should be good." Steve said emerging from underneath the car, covered in oil.

"Steve's planning on gettin' some action. Know anyone who might be willing?" Soda joked.

Tori laughed, "Well, I'm sure you won't be short of admirers."

"You think?" Steve smirked arrogantly.

"Oh, you've given my man here, a big head, Tori. Ha!" Soda laughed while his arms were firmly wrapped around his girlfriend's slender waist.

Later that day, Soda, and Steve were at the Curtis house, getting ready for Dally's party.

"You comin' Darry?" Soda asked.

"No, little man. I'm going to give it a miss. And if you were smart you'd do the same." Darry suggested, looking up from the television.

"Yeah sure Dar, if you say so." Soda sniggered. "What about you Ponyboy, are you comin'?"

"Yeah, I am. Can I Darry? Please I'll come home early. I'll stick with Soda, please." Pony begged. Darry looked at him disapproving.

"Pony, why are you asking me? It seems to me you have already made up your mind. Soda I want you in at midnight. And if you do decide to sleep there, which you would be wise not to, ring me before ten. Okay?" Darry remarked.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be okay, Dar. Stop worrying. I'm not a little kid!" Soda glanced to see Darry's face become stern and slightly angry.

"I know you're not. But Ponyboy is. Although he seems to think he's all grown up!" Darry exclaimed.

"I am grown up. Geez Darry, you treat me like a kid. I'll be fine at Dally's. I'll not do anythin' stupid." Ponyboy looked sad.

"Yeah, I know you won't. You're not going Pony. It's not Dally's house, it's Bucks. And something is bound to happen. I don't even want Sodapop to go, but he's old enough to make his own decision. You're not. So you're not going. End of story."

"Ah Darry. You're just trying to ruin my life!" Pony exclaimed.

"Oh, Pony you just stop being so dramatic. We will watch a film or somethin'. Spend some time with your big brother." Darry smiled.

"Oh grand. While Soda and Steve are at a party getting wasted and chatting to broads, I'll be in here with you. Great night." Pony sighed, if only he was older.

"Ha, Ponyboy. Just wait till your older, I'll take you to one of Dally's famous parties. Ha, well if Darry will let you!" Soda joked.

Steve laughed. "Yeah Pony, when you're older. Ha." The two friends laughed at Ponyboy.

"Come on then Soda, we better get goin'. Don't wanna keep you're lady waiting'!" Steve glanced in the mirror and touched up his hair one last time before they left.

Soda and Steve arrived to the familiar run-down house belonging to Buck Merrill. Music was pouring out of the stereo, and the house was filled with a few of the gang and some other greasers.

Soda opened the front door into the smoke-filled front room. Two-Bit was propped up next to the battered in door with his tongue down Leigh's throat.

Steve nudged Soda, "He doesn't waste any time does he?" Steve shouted over the music.

Soda laughed, his eyes desperately searched for Tori, although she hadn't arrived yet.

"Hey. You guys made it! I thought Darry had stopped you all from comin'!" Dally laughed as he walked over to Soda and Steve. He was rather drunk.

"Hey Dal, he stopped Pony from comin' but not me! Have to be in at midnight though. Unless I stop here." Soda hinted.

"Ohhhhh, is that a hint from Pop and Steve?" Dally slurred. "Stevie- boy do you want to stop at Dallas Winston's kingdom of parties!"

"Ha, Dal, you're wasted. I might stop though. Depends how pissed I get." Steve looked at Soda. The two friends had already decided they were sleeping.

"Dal, is Tori here yet?" Soda asked trying to pretend he wasn't bothered.

"Nope, she isn't here yet. But the night is young!" Dally turned to see a pretty blonde greaser standing to his left. "Well, I'll leave you to it. And you can crash here if you like." Dally turned and walked towards the blonde girl, and put his arm around her.

"Sheesh, if anyone else had done that, they woulda got a slap! But it is Dallas Winston, so he gets away with it. Its not fair." Steve shook his head. Dally had a way with women.

Tori and Kirsten walked in. Tori glanced around the room, trying to adjust to the settings. She was nervous and irritated by her bruised and swollen eye. Kirsten grabbed Tori's arm and pulled her across the room.

"Where are we going?" Tori asked Kirsten.

Before Kirsten answered, Tori was stood in front of Soda and Steve. They were both holding a bottle of beer.

"Hey there," Kirsten smiled at Steve. "You fancy showing me where the drinks are kept?"

Steve's eyes widened. "Yeah sure. Just through here. Come on." Steve smiled at Soda. Soda grinned.

"You want a drink Tori?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah please."

Kirsten smiled and walked through the crowded room following Steve, leaving Tori and Soda alone.

Soda leaned in and kissed Tori. "You look beautiful." Soda commented, while running his hand through her hair.

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." Tori laughed. "What time you going home?"

"Well I gotta be in at midnight but I think I'm gonna stop here. Where you stopping tonight?"

"Was gonna ask if I could stop here again. But if not, Kirsten's. Don't really want her mom to see my eye though. She will probably ask questions. I've known her a long time too so she will know if I'm lying."

"Dal will let you stay here. N' if you're lucky, I'll let you stay in my bed." Soda smirked.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen things were heating up.

Kirsten and Steve walked in to the kitchen.

Steve turned around. His eyes darted from Kirsten's face to her low cut top exposing her cleavage. "The…err…the drinks are kept in here. What do you want?" Steve asked stuttering as Kirsten stepped closer to him.

"Well first of all I want a kiss. Then I want you to get me a beer. I then want you to get me drunk and take advantage of me, and give me the best sex ever! Unless that's gonna be a problem?" Kirsten flirtily advanced to Steve, who was shaking his head.

She leaned in and kissed him. It was hot and passionate. _Finally!_ Steve thought to himself, _a bit of action!_

The kiss ended.

Kirsten smiled. "Now, hot stuff. You gonna get me a drink?"

Steve was taken a-back by Kirsten being very forward and flirtatious, but he liked it. "Yeah, sure. Beer wasn't it? And what did Tori want?"

"Yeah thanks. Just get her a beer too. Come on then, we should go give her the beer, before I get too excited and push you onto the dining table, and rip your clothes off. "

"Well, she might have gone off with Soda, there's no hurry really." Steve hinted. _Maybe Soda and Tori were right maybe I would get laid tonight._

Kirsten grabbed Steve's hand and pulled him into the other room, where Soda was stood with his arms draped around Tori's waist.

"Here's your drink Tor." Kirsten handed Tori a cold bottle of beer. "Soda, can I steal her for a moment? We need to talk Tori."

"Yeah, sure." Soda loosened his grip of Tori, and let her go.

Kirsten took Tori upstairs, and pulled her into an empty room.

"Ah, Tori, I just had to talk to you! It's about Steve and the plans for tonight!" Kirsten squealed. She sounded excited.

"What you wanna tell me? Do you like Steve?" Tori questioned. She looked around the room. It was dark.

"Yeah, he's a doll! If you don't mind, can we sleep here tonight? Just think, it might improve my chances with Steve! How are you and Soda getting on? You looked like you were having a good time." Kirsten was beaming.

"Course I don't mind. Soda and me are good. I think. He's so cute. I'm glad you and Steve are hitting it off!" Tori smiled. Things felt better. And Dally was right, this house was rocking!

"Well really we should get back to those guys." Kirsten stood up and smoothed her hair.

Downstairs, Steve and Soda were onto their third bottle.

"Sodapop, you think you're gonna get laid tonight?" Steve quizzed Soda.

"I don't know, I don't know if I want it to happen tonight." Soda replied with a sigh. "I don't want Tori thinking I'm just after sex, I like her." He looked up at Steve, waiting to see him smirk. But he didn't.

"I see, so you want to. But you're not going to. Right Soda. You know, you don't make no sense." Steve shook his head. He wondered what went through Soda's head.

"What about you Steve? You think you will? You gonna sleep with Kirsten?" Soda asked, although his mind was in another place.

"Well, she said that she wanted me to give her the best sex ever. So, yeah I think." Steve grinned.

Around three am, the kitchen was filled with empty bottles and cans, and most of Dally's guests had left. Dally was out cold on the settee.

Upstairs in Dally's room, Soda and Tori were awake talking and kissing.

Down the hallway, in Buck's room, Steve was cuddled up to Kirsten's naked body, after a passionate make out session.

Steve lay there awake, he smiled to himself, and kissed Kirsten on the head.

Soda was running his hand through Tori's soft hair. "Are you happy?" he spoke suddenly.

Tori looked at him, and thought for a moment. "What do you mean? Happy with you? Because if that's what you mean, then yeah. If you mean like in general, then not completely."

"Well, I meant with me. But you know if you wanna talk I'll listen, not that I'd be much help, but I always listen to Ponyboy." Soda shrugged, he wished there was something he could do to help.

"Thanks Soda, that means a lot." Tori stared into Soda's eyes.

"Are you pissed off because we've only kissed? Hang on that doesn't sound right. I'm not accusing you of being some slut, and I'm perfectly fine with the speed we're going, I wanna take it slow. I'm not just after sex, I like you. I'm just wondering if your happy with the way things are. Just wondering because I want things to be good between us. " Soda stumbled with his words.

Tori giggled, "Yeah I am happy with things. I don't mind that we've only just kissed. I take it you've heard some rumours about me? Most of them are lies. You might have heard that I sleep around. I don't. I've only slept with three people. I don't want to rush things with you. You're not like other guys. You're nice. You're different." Tori blushed. She had heard plenty of rumours about Soda too; apparently he had slept with at least four girls she could name.

"I didn't mean it like that. But yeah I'd heard those rumours, but that's not why I'm with you. I promise. I just thought I'd mention it because I didn't want you to get the wrong idea about what I want from you."

"Hey Soda, don't worry about it. I'm glad we talked about it." Tori cuddled into Soda. He was warm and comfortable.

Soda abruptly broke the silence. "Tori, I want to tell you something. A secret."


	6. Darry's Girl

"A secret? What sort of secret?" Tori was intrigued. She sat up and stared at her boyfriend. The moonlight poured into the room and washed Soda's complexion with an icy blanket. His eyes looked scared as if he'd seen a ghost. "What is it Soda, is everything okay? You look scared." Tori's eyes were fixated on him, what if everything wasn't okay? He seemed tense.

"Everything's fine. I'm just scared that, well maybe you won't want to be with me when I tell you this secret. It's a secret not many people know, and it's not something I'm particularly proud of." Soda lowered his head and looked at the shadow-covered ground. He felt a surge of fear pass over him. Was his secret that bad? Would Tori actually care?

"Okay Sodapop, you're scaring me now! Are you gonna tell me or not? You don't have to. If you feel like you need more time or something." Tori, wondered to herself did she really want to know this secret? Shoot, if Soda wasn't proud of it, what could it be? Maybe he had a dark past, like maybe he'd been involved in something sinister.

"Okay, I'll tell you but you better not laugh." Soda broke Tori's trail of thought, she looked at him as he raised his head and made eye contact briefly before looking out of the window. "Right, I'm, I'm a virgin. You happy now?" His face blushed a shade of pink before he looked at Tori, waiting for a reaction of some sort. How could he possibly compete with Tori's track record? She had had sex with three different guys; he hadn't had sex with anyone.

Tori paused before speaking, "Really? Wow," Tori was astonished, "But what about the rumour about you and Jenny Christens? And you and Holly Landler?" Had they really been rumours or was Sodapop trying to pull some sort of scam. She had heard of this sort of thing before, admitting they're virgins when really its just a ploy to get you into bed, but Sodapop seemed so genuine and he was really nice.

"Geez, yeah Tori, really. Don't rub it in. Do you honestly think I'd make something like that up? Not like I haven't had the opportunity, just didn't feel right that's all. Guess that's me chucked huh?" Soda turned away from Tori, he felt sad and scared at the same time. He hadn't told a girl this before; in fact the only people who knew were Steve and Ponyboy. But he supposed Tori was different, she made him happy and he felt differently about her.

"No, why would you be chucked? Just because you haven't had sex? So what! Soda, sex is over rated anyway. It's nice that you've kept your virginity. Wish I still had mine, I regret the way I lost mine and who I lost it to. Don't be embarrassed. We won't rush into things. I said that before. You know, that's probably the only time you've made me worry, I thought you had some sort of sinister secret! Ha! Soda you should worry about things like that less." Tori put her arms around Sodapop's neck, and kissed his ear lobe. Soda smiled. If sex was over rated why was it so important to the guys? Steve and Bit sure talked about it enough. Maybe some day soon, Soda would know for himself.

A few days after the party, Steve, Soda, Darry, Ponyboy, Johnny, and

Two-Bit, were sitting in The Dingo, having something to eat, Dally

was meant to be going, but he was running late.

"So, Darry, are you gonna tell us why you bought 'Knitting Weekly'? Or do we just have to make our own assumptions? Because my assumption is you're turning gay!" Soda teased, he took a bite from his burger, and a sip of coke before continuing, "No really, Dar, why'd you buy it?"

"You bought a knitting mag? Are you for real? What you gonna do, make us all jumpers?" Dally exclaimed pulling up a chair, he reached over to Darry's food, and stole a few fries, "Don't mind me, and carry on. So you were saying you bought a magazine suitable for an ol' grandma to read!" Dally sniggered.

"Well, yeah but it was an accident. I didn't mean to buy that one." Darry started to explain but was interrupted.

"Ha! You didn't mean to buy it, it just jumped off the self, into your hand and slid through the checkout and the money flew out of your hand into the cash register! Darry you crack me up!" Two-Bit howled with laughter, Steve and Soda laughed simultaneously.

"Ha De Ha, real funny Bit, what Darry's trying to say is he picked it up instead of 'Women Weekly'!" Dally laughed, everyone laughed with him except Darry and Johnny. Johnny was sat in the corner not particularly paying any real attention to the conversation. Darry on the other hand was slightly angry.

"Okay, okay, we'll stop it just tell us. We wont interrupt!" Steve sniggered intrigued by Darry's peculiar actions.

"Right, well, I was on my lunch at work and I was bored. Usually I go buy a paper, so I did. Well I tried. I went to the local shop. But they'd sold out or so I gathered. Couldn't see any, anyway. Then I noticed this pretty red head sat in the checkout, I'd never seen her there before. She was so pretty, had ringlets in her hair, and it was so shiny. Anyway, I was looking at the magazines, thought if they didn't have the paper, I'd best get a magazine, so I was looking. I musta been there a while because I couldn't take my eyes off this girl. I kept glancing back and forth at her, then the magazines. I guess she must of seen me because she said 'Hey Mister, you gonna buy anything, or are you just doing neck exercises?'" Darry paused and took a drink of his soda; the gang's faces were smothered in smiles. "So, I replied with, something like 'yeah, I am. Gonna buy something I mean'. I turned to face this beautiful broad and randomly selected a magazine, that's the one I picked." Darry finished his story.

"Ha, so ol' Superman has a crush on some cashier chick?" Dally laughed.

"So, did she not say anything when you bought a knitting mag?" Soda asked, with a huge cheeky grin plastered on his face.

"Well, she sort of looked at me unusually and said 'you like knitting?' and I was in a bit of a day dream, I looked at the magazine and panicked. I laughed a bit and said 'well sort of, see I was, well I, I'm learning to.' She laughed and pulled a face. Said something about how it was an original hobby! I felt shit. I mean she was HOT! And there was me standing buying a knitting magazine. Jesus I don't knit. She asked my name though, and said something bout how she'd expect to be seeing me next week when the second knit mag was out- if I wanted to be good I had to buy the magazines and practice, she laughed. Reminded me of someone. I don't know who. But I sure as hell will be going back."

"Ha, that's the funniest thing I've heard all day. Wait till we tell everyone." Two-Bit jested.

"Bit, everyone is here. Unless you mean Leigh and them?" Pony asked.

"Oh, well yeah I guess." Two-Bit quickly took a large gulp of his lemonade in hope to escape any questions.

"So, what is actually happening between you and Leigh? Cause' when you were at my party you didn't speak one word you just kissed, got ripped, bucked and left. Was a bit surprised at you too Steve, I heard you and Kirsten… all bloody night!" Dally grinned.

"No you didn't Dal, you were asleep. Flat out in fact." Steve retorted.

"Okay well maybe I didn't hear it but Tim Shepard told me all about it! So Bit, what about you and Leigh, cause you know I was thinking if she was a free agent, I could…!" Dally joked waiting for Two-Bit to snap.

"She's not a free agent. But were not an item. But that doesn't mean you can attempt to steam in." Two-Bit's comical grin was now a rather stern frown.

"Hey, Bit chill. I was kidding! Anyway, you guys fancy hurrying up and finishing your food?" Dally asked. A menaced look was haunting his mysterious face.

Soda looked up from his food, a confused look became apparent. "Why? You wanna give me indigestion? Anyway don't know why you're in such a hurry. Steve and me have got dates after this. Well in a couple of hours."

"Young Sodapop, you aren't very wise to the ways of the world, are you?" Dally grinned.

"What you mean? I'm not wise?" Soda looked rather offended by Dally's offhand comment.

"Well, I mean, you don't see an opportunity when it arises. Darry has just told us about this mystery girl; and you're not in the least bit interested who she is? I was thinking we could go to the store, and check her out! Maybe get her number for you Dar? Ha! You guys up for it?" Dally looked around the booth as he stood up and grinned. "You know that I'm right. We should go down."

Darry's eyes were on fire. As a matter of fact so were his cheeks. "Why would you want to do that? I'm perfectly capable of getting her number myself." Darry felt uncomfortable. Sure this girl was hot, but he didn't want to rush into things. After all he was a bit rusty on the dating side of things. The last time he had been on a date was before his parents had died. He shuddered to think how much things had changed. And that's if she even wanted his number in the first place.

"Ah come on Darry, it'll be fun to see who you've got a crush on. Will give me some inspiration for more jokes! Ha! Just kidding." Two-Bit howled. Steve and Pony laughed alongside too.

"Yeah come on Darry. You never know it could turn out good. She might like you and then well who knows!" Soda smiled at Darry. Soda wasn't too bothered about going but he knew the gang would give Darry a hard time if he wouldn't let them go. And besides it would kill time before him and Steve went to meet Tori and Kirsten.

"Come on Darry, me and Soda want to see who our future sister-in-law could be!" Pony teased. He looked straight at Darry; Pony could tell he was angry. Then his face softened.

"Yeah okay. But I don't want you guys embarrassing me! Okay?" Darry gave in. If it did go well and he did get a date, well, he supposed he would ask Soda and Steve for dating tips. At least he thought he should ask them. They were always on dates, unlike the other guys. Two-Bit screwed around, and Dally; well Dally was Dally and he didn't date, well not properly at least. Darry didn't think Johnny had been on any dates and Pony, well he hoped Ponyboy hadn't.

Fifteen minutes later and Darry was leading the way to the store.

"You guys, I better split. I'm not feeling well. See you's later yeah?" Johnny said clutching his stomach.

"Yeah no bother. See you later Johnny cake." Soda responded first.

"Hey! Told you, you shouldn't have eaten that hotdog! Ha!" Two-Bit laughed, "See you Johnny."

"Bye Johnny." Pony said. He smiled at his friend. Johnny looked worried. "You sure your okay?" Pony asked before Johnny departed.

"Yeah I'm fine prob's just a bit indigestion! Bye." Johnny replied as he turned around. The rest of the gang said bye and continued their journey to the store.

They turned the corner and Darry stopped. He turned to face the gang.

"Right, what's the plan? I mean, I don't think we should all go bombarding in at once. She will get scared. If she's even in today." Darry looked around the streets to see if he could see anyone. He had a knot in his stomach, the type of knot you get when it's your first day at school and you're not sure what to expect.

"The plan can be that… Two-Bit, Steve and Ponyboy all go in first and wander about trying to get the weekly groceries. Then Sodapop you go in and ask this broad if she's seen three guys wandering about- describe them a bit or something. Then you guys buy your groceries. Then you will all have seen her. You come out and on the way out; Darry and me walk in and chat to you for a couple of minutes. Then we walk over to the magazines and you show me the knitting magazine so she remembers you. And presto! You chat her up with my assistance at the checkout. That okay?" Dally plotted. He didn't want to walk in first he firmly believed in making late entrances.

"Yeah suppose that's okay, as long as you don't say anything stupid." Darry sighed. He guessed Dally would attempt to embarrass him.

"Go on then Two-Bit, Steve, Pony, go on get in the shop." Dally prompted. His face looked manipulating as if he was planning something.

Ponyboy, Steve and Two-Bit had been inside the shop for a while, "Go on Soda your go, and remember ask the broad with red ringlets if she's seen your friends."

Soda pushed the glass-panelled door and walked into the cool air-conditioned room. He glanced around and looked towards the checkout, sure enough sitting behind the desk was a red head with ringlets, she had her back to Soda. He walked forward and stood in front of her. She looked up at him, her chestnut eyes beamed and she smiled. She looked happy to see someone, she was probably bored, Soda thought, this shop was pretty empty.

"Can I help you?" said the pretty red head.

"Em… you might be able to. I'm looking for my two friends and my brother. They said they were going to come here." Soda said looking around the store. He wondered if he was looking convincing.

"Is it Steve you're looking for? Because he's over there hiding behind the isle with the milk in. You're Sodapop aren't you? I sometimes bring my car into the DX. You wouldn't have noticed, you're always surrounded by a group of girls. I'm Lucy. " The red haired girl answered.

Soda was stunned. How could she know so much? Was she making too much of an effort to talk to him? Did she know the plan?

He opened his mouth in attempt to speak but just nodded his head until he regained control of his voice. "Yeah, I am Sodapop, and it is Steve I'm looking for. And you're right I didn't know who you were. But just because girls surround me, well you can't judge me on that. I'm not a slag, and I'm not a bad person. I'm good at my job. And anyway how do you know so much?" Words, which had once failed him, began to spill out of his mouth. Just at that moment Steve, Two-Bit and Ponyboy arrived at the checkout.

"Hey Soda," Ponyboy smiled. He looked at Lucy and back at Soda. Soda looked at the basket. His eyes widened with horror. He walked towards Steve and Two-Bit. What were they trying to do?

"Bit, Steve I want a quiet word with you." Soda said as the basket was being emptied and the items being scanned.

"Yeah, what? The broad hasn't hit on you has she? Darry will be crushed!" Steve asked.

"No. I want to know, why the hell you've bought tampons?" Soda said his cheeks flushed.

"Tampons? What are they?" Two-Bit asked dumbstruck.

"The things in the yellow box Bit. The things that women use when they're, you know." Soda emphasized, he didn't want to have to say anymore.

"But aren't they sweets? And what do you mean when women you know?" Two-Bit questioned.

"They are not sweets Two-Bit. They are the things women use when they are having a period!" Soda was highly embarrassed and he couldn't believe his friends knew so little. Two-Bit's face dropped and turned as white as a sheet.

He looked at the counter. Lucy was just about to scan the yellow box.

Steve glared at Two-Bit, "Do something Bit. We are not getting them women things!"

"Noooo!" Two-Bit shouted. "We don't need them. Them tampons were put in by an accident! Seriously don't scan them in. Come on were all guys why would we need them?" Two-Bit's face was bright red.

Lucy looked at the box, which she was about to scan. "Okay, if you're sure you don't want them." She lifted the box onto a shelf of dis-guarded items.

"He thought they were sweets." Sodapop remarked, as so he wouldn't look silly.

Two-Bit glared at him. He was humiliated. "No I didn't you joker! It was Ponyboy, I didn't realise he had put them in the basket."

"I know what they are." Ponyboy claimed maturely. "I just thought you were buying them for your mom or something."

"Well it must have been Steve then because I knew what they were." Two-Bit said flustered by the accusations.

"I know what they are. It's you that Soda had to tell. Geez, don't be embarrassed Two-Bit." Steve coolly said.

"Exactly Two-Bit" Soda stated.

Lucy looked at the four of them and giggled. "They're only tampons really it's not something to be embarrassed about."

Outside, Darry had his face pressed up against the glass-panelled doors.

"Geez, Darry calm down." Dally said while taking a drag of his cigarette.

"I can't. I can just imagine something's gone wrong they've been at the till an awful long time. She's laughing. Oh God what have they said? Come on we're going in." Darry pushed on the door and walked into the store, Dally quickly followed.

Soda, Steve, Two-Bit and Pony were walking towards the doors as Darry and Dally came in.

"Hey Darry." Sodapop said. "Two-Bit just tried to buy tampons; he though they were sweets. How dumb is he?" Soda laughed. He looked at Darry, his face was stiff and he looked gutted.

"Geez, why did I agree to this you's have definitely blown it." Darry shrugged. Why did he agree to this? He supposed it was to get them off his back.

"What are tampons?" Dally asked naively.

"Ha! Oh she knew a hell of a lot about me, Darry. She knows where I work and stuff. Bit creepy really. How do you not know about tampons? Geez!" Soda laughed at Dally.

"She knows about you? Great! I bet she was hitting on you. Get blown out, so she can go out with my brother!" Darry slumped his shoulders as he walked away from his friends.

"Darry I never said that! Stop over reacting." Soda exclaimed slightly angered by Darry's behaviour.

"Just leave him." Dally stated. "Meet you lot outside and you can explain what these tampon things are." Steve and Soda sniggered as Dally walked over to the magazine rack where Darry stood.

Darry aimlessly scanned the magazines. His eyes were focussed as if he was looking for something in particular. Dally came up behind him, and spotted a copy of 'Knitting Weekly'.

"Darry, I've found 'Knitting Weekly'. This the one I need?" Dally said raising his voice.

"What?" Darry asked, forgetting the plan. Remembering he unconvincingly said "Oh, yeah that's it."

Dally grinned at Darry and walked over to the checkout.

Lucy smiled. "Hey Darry, back so soon."

"Yeah." Darry replied. He was hurt. He was convinced she had been chatting his brother up so why was she being so nice to him?

"Darry's teaching me to knit too." Dally said attempting to help the conversation.

"Really? Dallas Winston learning to knit? I'm impressed!" Lucy giggled.

"Actually I'm not Dallas Winston, I'm Buck Merrill." Dally lied with attempt to keep his identity from being associated with knitting.

"Okay, my mistake." Lucy said, acknowledging Dally was lying. "So, Darry, how do you know Sodapop? " She asked intrigued.

"He's my little brother." Darry replied.

"Oh, shoot, I feel silly now!" Lucy blushed.

"Don't. Geez, they don't look alike. How do you know Soda?" Dally enquired.

"I don't. I just know of him. Like I told him, sometimes take my car to the DX, so I recognised him and Steve. But other than that my friend thinks he's a doll." Lucy replied.

"Cool." Dally said. He looked at Darry, who's suspicions of Lucy fancying Sodapop were slowly disintegrating.

Dally paid for the magazine and started to walk out. Darry followed.

"Hey Darry, wait up." Lucy called. Darry stood in his tracks and turned to face this beautiful girl. "My names Lucy by the way. I guess I forgot to tell you. I, I want to give you my number. Just incase, you ever want to do something, like go on a date or teach me to knit or something. But if not, that's cool. Just wanted to give you it." Lucy smiled, her cheeks were a pale shade of pink and her chestnut eyes glistened with excitement.

"Sure," Darry said; all other words failed him. "I'll, em, call you or something."

"Cool. Well I better get back to work." Lucy turned and walked towards her cash desk.

"Yeah, cool." Darry turned and walked out of the store. His friends were standing waiting for him. A smile spread across his face. "Yes! I got her number. And Soda, she doesn't fancy you she must fancy me!"


	7. Converstations

A week or so later, Soda and Steve were sitting on Soda's front porch. The sun was beaming down on them. Soda looked up to the blue cloudless sky, and squinted. The air was dry. _It's too humid. Wish there was a breeze._ Soda thought to himself. His mind drifted in and out of different topics as him and Steve sat in silence.

"Can't wait until we break up from school! Three days left!" Soda exclaimed.

Steve looked up at him in shock. "Soda, you hardly ever go to school anyway. What's such a big deal? I mean, if you cared, you'd be there now."

"Yeah I know, but it just means that we can chill out with everyone all summer. It will be sweet. And our two weeks off from the DX starts then. And Darry's got two weeks off and we will get to see Tori and Kirsten all the time. Just think about it Steve, Dally said Buck won't be back for a while. So he will be having plenty of parties!" Soda sat back with a smile on his face thinking about how much of a fuss he and Steve had made about getting their holiday off the DX at the same time. He laughed to himself thinking about how useless the summer staff would be and how he would be off sitting in the sun while they were sweating to death under a car! Ha!

Steve broke Soda's thoughts with a rather abrupt comment. "Hope Kirsten finishes work early so I can get a buck."

Soda looked at Steve rather shocked. "What? Steve! Where do you propose you will have sex like? Cause you're not doing it in my house!"

"I know I'm not. I don't care where we do it but I know her folks aren't in till after seven tonight, but she's agreed to do a shift at the hospital, she's gonna try and finish early though. Anyway, isn't it about time you shag Tori?" Steve looked right at Sodapop.

"Well, I've only been seeing her nearly two weeks that's not a long time and we're taking things slow." Soda said.

"Soda, no offence but if you know the rumours about your chick, and I know you do, she will guess you're a virgin if you leave it any longer." Steve turned and faced Soda. "I'm just saying, what you were saying, perfect time the summer."

"Steve. She knows. I told her. At Dally's party."

"What? But Soda, you didn't have to. It took you ages to even tell me and we've been best buddies forever! Next you'll be telling me you love her and you're getting married." Steve was in shock. _Why did Soda tell her? It took him ages to tell me. He let me believe that he had had sex with at least three girls before he told me._ "Shoot, you must really like her huh?" Steve thought out loud.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Soda looked back up to the sky. _Why was Steve making such a big deal out of it? Guess its cause I normally don't want anyone to know. _"Darry still hasn't rang Lucy. He said he's trying to play it cool. But I've seen him go to the phone with her number and go to dial but hang up instead."

"He's dumb. What's the point of getting someone's number and not calling them? She obviously wants to go out with him." Steve said looking at the pavement.

Soda sighed, "Geez, it's hot."

"Yeah I know. It's too hot to do anything." Steve looked around. The street was empty. His legs were sticking to his jeans.

Later that night, Darry, Soda and Ponyboy were sat in front of the T.V.

"Hmm, this is nice." Darry stated, glancing up at the clock.

"Yeah well, it's only six O'clock." Soda said. "Where is everyone tonight?"

"Well, Steve's at Kirsten's isn't he? And Johnny's going to the nightly double with Dally and Two-Bit." Ponyboy replied.

"Why aren't you going? " Soda asked his younger brother.

"Because Darry said I couldn't go." Ponyboy looked at Darry angrily.

"Why's that Dar?" Sodapop asked anxiously.

"Oh, I just thought it would be nice us three spending time together. Plus Pony's got school tomorrow." Darry said, thinking to himself; _the real reason I don't want Pony to go is because, after Sodapop meets Tori, I will be left in all night by myself, and I will have to sit and dwell on whether or not to ring Lucy. _

"But Darry, Ponyboy always goes to the movies on a school night. And it's the last few days before summer vacation, so what difference does it make? Sodapop enquired.

"Oh, I don't know. You're right Soda. Ponyboy you can go. Sorry." Darry glanced down to the floor.

"Thanks. Well I better get going. They're meeting at The Dingo first for something to eat. Later guys. Don't worry I wont be late." Ponyboy stood up and looked in the mirror. He started messing on with his hair.

"Geez, Pony you look fine! You're getting as bad as your brother here." Darry laughed.

"Hey! I'm not that bad." Soda playfully dug Darry in the ribs.

"Oh yeah? So what's gonna happen in an hour or so when you go to meet Tori? You not gonna be doing your hair? And checking yourself out?" Darry laughed.

A short time later, Darry and Soda were still sat in front of the T.V. Darry was repeatedly glancing up at the clock.

"Shoot, what's up Darry?" Soda stared at his brother. "And don't say nothin' because I know there's something up. You're not staring at that clock every five seconds for no reason."

"It's just, last week when I got Lucy's number." Darry's skin turned a crimson colour.

"Yeah…"

"I can't ring her. I don't know what to say. I'd feel stupid." Darry glanced up at Soda and quickly returned his glance to the worn out carpet.

"Do you like her?"

"Yeah. Course I do. I can't stop thinking about her. But I'm scared to go in to see her at work. And I can't ring her. I've tried Soda I really have but what if she doesn't actually want to go out? What if it was some sick joke?"

"Darry. Hold up. She asked you out. She gave you her number. She asked you to call her. Of course she wants to go out. If you don't feel comfortable on the phone. Go in buy that magazine again, and ask her out!" Soda shook his head at Darry. Sometimes it felt like Darry was the younger brother, Soda smiled.

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't had a date since before Mom and Dad died so I wouldn't know what to do."

"Jesus, Darry. Get a grip. Just be you. You don't have to do anything." Soda jested.

"I guess. Right, I will go to the store and buy the magazine tomorrow."

"Yeah. Cool. Darry? Why don't you just buy a magazine you're actually gonna read?" Soda enquired.

"What? Well then she might have forgot who I am."

"Trust me Darry. Lucy knows who you are. Who could forget you when your friends got mixed up with tampons and sweets!" Soda laughed.

"Thanks Soda that makes me feel a heck of a lot better." Darry sarcastically remarked, his eyes flittering towards the clock again. "Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Shoot, yeah. Better go and do my hair and change my shirt!"

"See you are worse than Pony!" Darry laughed.

Half an hour later, Soda arrived at the park where he was meeting Tori. He was leaning against a post supporting the rusty old swing.

"Hey," Tori smiled as she approached the swing.

"Hi. What you been up to?" Soda kissed Tori's lips. "Wooah, I got goose bumps there!"

Tori laughed. "I've been over Shelly's for a bit. Steve came over Kirsten's so I thought I better leave."

"Ha, yeah! You going to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I have to. Especially with me stopping at Kirsten's house. Her Mom's not too keen on missing school."

"Ah, Tori, I miss you when you're at school. I had nothing to do all day today." Soda looked at Tori. His eyes were so deep and compassionate.

"Ah poor baby. Maybe you should go to school tomorrow if you miss me that much." Tori teased.

"Ha! Don't think I could. It's so boring. Plus I've got work in the morning. I have got an hour or so for lunch I could come and meet you for a quick kiss if you liked?" Soda looked hopeful.

"Yeah, I've got dance before lunch. So you could meet me at the dance studio?" Tori suggested.

"Yeah I will. So you didn't tell me you were a dancer?" Soda was intrigued.

"Yeah, that's cause I'm not. It's just one of my subjects at school. I like it but I don't think I'm that good." Tori laughed.

Back at the Curtis house, Darry was sitting alone reading the paper when Steve came in the door.

"Hey Darry. Is Soda in?" Steve said grabbing a coke and sitting down.

"No. He's not he is out with his girlfriend. And the others are at the nightly double."

"Oh, so why are you sat in the house by yourself? Why didn't you go to the movies?" Steve quizzed.

"That's because, I've got things on my mind. And I didn't want to get back to find you with cum stains all over my house. You hear me?"

Steve's face was blank. "Darry, what you talking about? I wasn't gonna have sex in your house."

"I know you're not. Over my dead body. Where have you been?" Darry asked finally looking up from his paper.

"Just been over Kirsten's house."

"Is she your girlfriend now?"

"No. We're just friends." Steve grinned.

"What did you do at Kirsten's house?" Darry looked at Steve awaiting an answer.

"You know, stuff…"

"What sort of stuff?"

"We, you know, had sex and stuff."

"But you're not going out with her."

"Yeah, so."

"I hope you were careful Steve. I mean you don't know the dangers of having unprotected sex." Darry's face was serious. He folded his paper and put it on the brown wooden table next to the settee.

"What? Course I do." Steve laughed. He was starting to wish he had just gone home.

"Steve, I know you're not my brother but, you've been Sodapop's best friend an awful long time now and I sorta feel responsible for you. So I think… Steve. Your fly is down." Darry stopped and looked at Steve. "Pull it up Steve. I don't wanna see your boxer shorts!"

"Geez, I'm going to." Steve stood up and pulled up his zip. He sat back down onto the settee. "Darry, you really don't have to feel responsible for me."

"Be quiet and listen. What I'm about to tell you is real important. It's more useful than anything you will learn at school or the DX. This lesson's about life." Steve looked confused. Had Darry lost his mind? " Do you know how to use a condom?"

"Yeah. I used one tonight didn't I?" Steve retorted.

"I don't know Steve. I wasn't there. Thank goodness. A condom is like, well it's the difference between getting a baby and a disease and enjoying sex without any strings attached."

"Right Darry. Do you know where Soda is? Cause I'm gonna head out now, I think you've lost it." Steve murmured as he approached the door cautiously.

"Fine, Steve I'm only trying to stop you from ruining your life. Soda's out with Tori. Don't know where he's gone."

"Okay well I'll catch you later." Steve opened the door and left.

Around eight am the next day Soda was already working at the DX. Steve didn't start till twelve. He hated working by himself especially early in the morning. No customers to talk to and nothing to do. Suddenly the bell on the shop door rang and in walked Tori.

"Hey. I just thought I'd drop by before school." She said. "Kirsten was working again and I feel a bit awkward staying in when she's out."

"No trouble. It's nice, I could do with a bit of company." Soda stood up from the comfy brown chair behind the counter and walked towards Tori. He pulled her in and kissed her passionately.

The door opened again.

"Opps, not disturbing anything am I?" Lucy, the red head from the store, was standing there in her uniform, clutching her car keys.

Soda and Tori parted. Soda spoke quickly trying to avoid any awkwardness.

"Hey Lucy. Course not. Was just talking about you…"

Lucy cut in amidst Soda's sentence. "Oh my God! Tori Jamison! Is that you? Shoot! Haven't seen you in ages. How you keeping?"

Tori turned and instantly recognised Lucy. "Hi. I've been keeping good. How about you Lucy?"

Both girls were excited to see each other. Soda was confused. How could Tori know Lucy?

"Sorry to interrupt but what did you want doing to your car?" Soda asked before Lucy had a chance to reply to Tori.

"Just the tyres pumping up." Lucy handed her keys to Soda and sat down on a seat in the shop. She gestured for Tori to join her.

Sodapop looked towards Tori, he pulled a confused face, she shrugged her shoulders and he hurried out of the room. _Tori would have to be going to school soon_, Soda thought to himself; _how did she know Lucy? _

Tori sat down beside her friend.

"So, how are you?" Lucy asked. "I heard you've moved out of your house."

"What? Yeah I'm okay. Just another argument with John. Who told you that?" Tori asked curiously.

"I'll give you three guesses but you'll only need one. That little shit, John's son. He was mouthing off the other week when he came in the store with a friend. He's such a jerk."

"You working down at the store now?" Tori asked, not at all surprised who had told Lucy.

"Yeah. Shoot, take it you still like Sodapop then?" Lucy asked looking towards the door.

"Yeah, he's a doll. I've been going out with him a while now. How do you know him?"

"Well I don't. I just sometimes bring my car in. Everyone knows who he is. But the other week, he was in the store, all of them were. His older brother, Darry, I gave him my number. He hasn't called. How old is he? I think he thinks I'm too young." Lucy looked sad. "I'm trying not to think about it. I, at least, expected to see him in the store though." She sighed.

"Really? That was you? Soda told me about it but he didn't say it was you. Guess he didn't know I knew you. Huh. Darry's real nice to me. He's probably just getting cold feet. I'm sure you'll see him again. I think he's about twenty one something like that." Tori shrugged.

"Oh I don't know. It's confusing."

Soda walked back into the shop.

"There you go all done." Soda walked over to the cash register.

Lucy paused. "Tori, where you staying at the minute?"

"At Kirsten's house. You got her number?"

"Yeah I have. Maybe I could give you two a call and we could catch up?" Lucy suggested.

"Yeah that would be good. Maybe you could come to one of Dally's parties." Tori smiled.

"That would be cool." Lucy paid Soda, said goodbye and left.

Soda looked at Tori, waiting for an answer.

"Well, what happened there? How do you know Lucy?" Soda asked intrigued.

"She used to live on my block. Kirsten and me used to dance with her. She's the year above us, but she was a drop out. Her mother died so she had to move to a different neighbourhood with her father and get a job. It was a hard time for them. I didn't know she was the girl who gave Darry her number. He should have called her she's really nice." Tori glanced at her watch. "Shoot Soda, I better get going. You still coming at lunch?"

"Yeah. I'll see you there. Bye." Soda reached for Tori and kissed her.

It was lunchtime and Steve had just arrived at the DX.

"Steve I gotta shoot, going to see Tori for a bit. I'll not be long okay?" Soda quickly explained.

"Yeah okay. See you soon." Steve said as Soda sped out of the shop.

Soda arrived at the school. It had been a while since he had been there. He walked towards the dance studio passing a group of his teachers who remarked something about how it was nice to see him in school. _Yeah right as if I'm actually in school to work_, Soda thought to himself as he approached the dance studio door. Music was still playing from inside the studio. He opened the door and glanced inside. Tori and a few other girls were still dancing. Soda's eyes lit up. They were glued to Tori's figure. She looked elegant and sexy.

The music stopped and the class was over. Tori walked towards the door and paused when she saw Sodapop.

"Hi. You're early." She smiled. "Give me a few minutes to get changed."

"Yeah okay." Soda was stunned.

Tori emerged from the changing rooms, and moments later she and Soda were sitting in the nearby park eating lunch. Ponyboy was walking by with a dark haired friend.

"Hey Sodapop, Tori. What you two doing tonight?" Ponyboy asked happily.

"Hey Pony, I don't know what we're doing tonight. Why?" Soda looked at Tori then at Pony, wondering why his brother was asking him.

"Just wondering because Darry's going on a date so the house is empty. I was going to go to The Dingo with a few friends but if Darry's going out, I was wondering if I could invite them over?" Pony asked.

"Well, I don't know Pony. It's not really up to me anyway. It's up to Darry. Can't see him being too pleased with a group of kids in the house who he doesn't know. And anyway, who's he going on a date with?"

"That red head from the store. Can't remember her name. I went home for lunch and he was there. He was singing. Seemed pretty happy. I guess I'll just go to The Dingo. Well Bye." And with that Ponyboy and his friend disappeared.

Soda turned and looked at Tori, "So I got a free house tonight if you want to come over? It can just be you and me. I'll cook you a meal or something if you like?"

"Really? Can you cook?" Tori asked surprised.

"Yeah. I can, well it never turns out the right colour but it still tastes pretty good." Soda laughed.

"That would be nice. Just us two." Tori smiled, and thought of how romantic it would be. "Yeah Soda, I would really like that."

"Good. That's sorted then. I'll have to double check with Darry but it will be okay. Just come by about seven."


	8. Closer and Closer

Author's Note "Hey, Sorry for taking so long to update, i went on holiday for a week and since i got back I've been working loads, but I've finally finished chapter 8. Hope you enjoy it. Promise to update soon! Thanks for all your reviews. TheCruiser9, BlacklightningDX, Zigzag'squeen, icy-dropletz, and Banana4422, and anyone else who has read my story, thanks! Please keep reading and reviewing and I'll keep writing!" Anyway...on with the story!

"Steve, anything you want me to do before I go?" Soda said as he glanced up at the clock. Nearly five O'clock.

"Nope, I think I've just about got it covered. So I guess I'll see you in the morning Romeo." Steve laughed as he wiped his brow, smothering his forehead in oil.

"Ha! Steve, you got oil on your head again!" Soda laughed as he picked up his jacket. "Well, see you later."

Soda swung his jacket over his shoulder and began the short distance home.

As he approached the house, music could be heard. This distinct sound was common in this house and made Sodapop smile. As he opened the door the music was blasting into his ears. He walked over to the record player and turned it down.

"Hey little man. What you doing turning that down? I was listening to that." Darry asked as he walked into the sitting room. He was standing, wearing a pair of jeans. His hair was neatly greased and his muscles were definite.

"You were listening to it? But, you were the one who said we had to watch the volume." Soda's face was confused and he struggled to find words to express his feelings.

"I know, but Soda, a little music around the place will cheer things up a bit. I'm not going to be in tonight. I'm taking Lucy to The Dingo then to the nightly double. Should be fun." Darry said as he adjusted his hair in the mirror.

"The Dingo? But isn't that where Pony's going? Why would you want to go there?" Soda looked puzzled. "And since when did you ask Lucy out? You haven't told me."

"Just today. Oh, we talked for ages and it was great. We clicked. Sodapop, I want to thank you for helping me. You know if it wasn't for our talk, well I wouldn't be going out tonight." Darry smiled. He looked really happy. "I'm going to The Dingo first to get some food and talk. Not to keep an eye on Ponyboy if that's what you're thinking. But I'll check who he's hanging out with. Might even extend his curfew."

Soda looked at Darry in disbelief. "Extending his curfew? Geez, Darry you've lost it! You must be really sweet on this girl."

"I'm just looking forward to it. Like I said, this is the first date in ages. Just want to have a good time and for it to go well. See Pepsi, it's okay for you. Girls have always liked you. You've been on loads of dates. So having a girlfriend is no big deal to you. But for me it is. Most girls don't even give me a chance because I come with excess baggage. No offence. Not like I'm classing you and Pony as baggage. You know I wouldn't have it any other way. Its just most girls don't want to know you when you've already got a family to look after. Means they'd come second or third even. But I guess it's just nice to get out."

Soda looked at Darry. He was washed with realisation. Looking after him and Pony was even hard on Darry when it came to girls. He hadn't realised. He guessed it must be because Darry doesn't like to show his feelings much. It made him feel a bit sad because Darry had sacrificed so much to give Pony and he, opportunities.

"So what you up to tonight Sodapop?" Darry cut into Soda's trail of thoughts leaving him a bit dazed. "You seeing Tori?"

"Em. Yeah. I, I was gonna ask if it would be okay if I cooked her a meal and we stayed in tonight since you guys are out?" Soda stuttered.

"Yeah don't see why not. As long as you do the washing up! Ha. What's up with cooking Tori a meal? Do you love her?"

"What? No, I don't know. Stop it Darry. I just thought it would be nice." Soda's skin turned crimson.

"So, you don't love her, or sorry, you don't know if you love her. But you want to cook her a meal. Something's going on. You don't usually cook girls meals." Darry teased. "Hey look, your face is all red."

"Darry. Quit it. Tori's different. You know that. She's fun and even if we don't do nothing it's still good. I can have silences with her that are comfortable and when I'm going to see her I get excited. I don't know, it's kinda nice. Different." Soda looked at Darry, awaiting a snigger.

"That's real nice Sodapop, but I say, this broads got you falling for her. Lets just hope things work out."

Soda smiled. It was rare that he and Darry had conversations such as this, but when it did happen it was nice.

About an hour and a half later, Soda had begun cooking the meal. Spaghetti Bolognese. Except the pasta was actually blue in colour. Sodapop liked adding food colouring to his cooking. He believed that if food was coloured and looked good it would taste extra good. The pasta had cooked and the sauce was ready. Soda set the table, a candle in the middle. It wasn't anything fancy but it sure was nice. He went into his bedroom to get changed. Ponyboy was sitting on his bed combing his hair back.

"Hey Pony. Hope you're gonna be gone by seven." Soda suggested.

"Yeah. Don't worry. Darry's dropping me off at The Dingo before he picks Lucy up. I'll be gone. Won't be back till later either."

"Good." Soda said glancing at his watch it was ten to seven.

Suddenly Darry shouted from his room. "Ponyboy lets get goin. Don't wanna be late!"

Pony looked at Sodapop and stood up. "Well have a good night." He said as he walked out of the room.

A few minutes later Soda heard the front door close and walked into the sitting room after changing his shirt. The next ten minutes seemed to drag. Soda felt nervous. Seven pm passed by. Followed by five past. Tori must not be coming Soda thought to himself, just as the doorbell rang. His heart rate increased rapidly and his palms became hot and clammy.

"Thanks. Soda this is real nice. I've never had anyone cook me a meal before." Tori smiled at Sodapop as she scooped up some blue pasta onto her fork.

"You're welcome. Do you actually like it?"

"Yeah. It's nice. I like this. Just doing things together. It's nice hanging with your gang, but it is nice just being by ourselves." Tori hesitated she looked at Soda awaiting his reaction.

"I know. You look beautiful."

Tori blushed. "Thanks."

An hour or so later Tori and Soda had washed up and were lying on the settee.

Soda began stroking her hair. They began to kiss and quickly became carried away. Soda put his hand up Tori's top and things started to become heated. The two lovers were kissing passionately and decided to move things into Soda's room.

Tori unzipped Sodapop's fly, and slowly pulled his jeans down. Standing in her bra she looked up at Soda and said; "You okay?"

Soda looked at her reassuringly. "Yeah I'm okay. I'm ready." Tori smiled. Soda smiled back.

The next morning Soda awoke with a smile. He got up and went to work. Steve was already there.

"Hey buddy," Steve called. "Whoa, you look happy. What's happened?" Steve stood up.

"Nothin'" Soda replied unconvincingly. It was clear to Steve that he was lying after all the wacky grin told it all.

"Nothin'? Don't make me laugh. You aint smiling like that for no reason. You got laid didn't you?" a smile spread across Steve's face. He looked mischievous and handsome.

"Okay, so maybe something did happen but really Steve, why should I tell you?" Soda joked.

"How about because I'm your best friend?"

"Yeah okay. You got me. We did it." Soda replied, still grinning.

"You did what? Geez Soda, there's plenty of things you coulda done." Steve jested.

"I had sex with Tori. There. You happy?" Soda stated.

"Woohoo! This is a cause for celebration. How was it? Your first time I mean? Was it how you expected!" Steve mocked Soda and began to do a strange scoffing dance.

"Ha! Randle, you're crazy! Yeah it was good. Great in fact. Better than what I expected." Soda stood back and watched his crazy friend making a fool out of himself while he reflected the previous night.

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis. I am impressed. You've seen the light. You have become a man. Congrats and all that." Steve laughed as he went to shake Sodapop's hand.

"Shoot, Steve it's not that big of a deal."

"Soda it is. Anyway, did Darry go on that date?"

"Yeah he sure did. Don't really know how it went. He didn't get in till three am, and he stayed in bed this morning; his holidays at work have started." Soda paused. "Guess if he stayed out all night, it must have went well.

"Yeah, maybe. Unless it went bad and they spent the whole night arguing." Steve suggested thoughtfully.

"Guess we'll find out later." Soda said.

A week passed by and school was over. Ponyboy had decided to take a writing class up over summer, funded by the school. His teacher had encouraged him to do so, as his writing skills had improved somewhat over the passed three-month. Plus Darry said he ought to go to improve his chances of going to college. Sodapop and Steve were both three days into their summer vacation and had done absolutely nothing constructive at all, much to Darry's dislike. Darry had been off work a week now, and in that time, he had done a bit of gardening, fixed a few things around the house, and generally kept busy. Other than that he had also seen Lucy a few times. Sodapop and Ponyboy had decided that this was the happiest and weirdest they had ever seen Darry. After all, he had started to sing and generally seemed more relaxed. They thought this was because he was out enjoying himself with someone other than the gang. Maybe he was actually loosening up. But Ponyboy highly doubted that.

It was the morning of Dally's third party while he was looking after Buck's house. He had invited only twenty people this time as the last party he had, started to get out of control.

Tori was sitting on a swing talking to Kirsten, Leigh and Shelly.

"Shelly you have got to come!" Tori pleaded.

"Yeah I know, there is no way you can miss another party!" Leigh exclaimed.

"But I don't want to go. Really it sounds real fun; you and Two-Bit eating each other's faces, Kirsten and Steve at it and you will be with Sodapop all night, Tori. It just doesn't sound fun. You guy's I'd just prefer to stop at home." Shelly explained.

"Shoot, Shelly, that's not what happens at all." Kirsten looked at Shelly. "And you know you could hook up with someone at the party. You've got nothing to worry about. Just come for an hour or so and if you don't like it you don't have to stop?"

"Okay. But I'm only stopping one hour. And I hope that Dallas Winston keeps his distance." Shelly stated.

"I don't get you Shell, you make no sense. When no one spoke to him, you were like 'oh that Dallas Winston is so HOT! Wouldn't mind taking him home'. And now you've got the chance to speak to him, all of a sudden you don't like him?" Leigh enquired.

"It's not that. I still think he's hot, it's just he's a bad boy. And I don't want to get involved with rotten apples. It's too risky." Shelly looked at her friends.

"Yeah, but wasn't that why you were attracted to him in the first place? His bad boy image?" Tori asked inquisitively.

"Yeah so. Just drop it okay. Nothing is going to happen between me and that hood." Shelly blushed.

Dally's party was packed. People were all over, drinking, making out, and having a good time. The party had been going for several hours now, and the amount of alcohol being consumed was slowly starting to decline as more and more greasers had become so drunk they had passed out or went home.

"You know, Shelly's looking hot tonight!" Two-Bit exclaimed as he took a long draw from his smoke stick. Dally looked at him and then to her, his vision blurred from the amount of alcohol he had drank. He lit a cigarette and slowly started to speak.

"Yeah I guess so. But you've got a chick. Speaking of her, where is she?" Dally asked squinting his eyes around the smoke filled room in attempt to see Leigh, however, this would have been impossible even if she was in the room as Dally was steadily loosing his sight as he poured more liquor down his throat.

"She's gone to the toilet. I'm going up there in a minute." Two-Bit winked to imply the deeds he was about to do.

"Yeah, shoot go on already. You're making me wanna puke!" Dally laughed, slapping his pal on the back.

He stood propped up against the frame of the kitchen door, staring into space. Suddenly a blurred vision of what he thought was Shelly, started walking towards him, and he could have sworn he heard her say something. If she had of said something, surely Dally wouldn't have heard it as her soft quiet voice would be drowned out by his intoxication and the beating music. However Dally was not phased by the fact he was pissed. She stood in front of him. He smiled and opened his mouth to speak but no words emerged. Just a big, smelly burp. Dally's eyes widened as he realised what had happened, if he had, had slightly less to drink perhaps he would have been embarrassed but he was too drunk to be. He tried again to speak, but Shelly put her finger to his lips and quietly whispered "Shhh" in his ear. Dally was intrigued. What was she doing?

Suddenly she opened her mouth, Dally expected to hear something along the lines of "You're a disgusting pig." However what he did hear was somewhat different. Shelly belched too. Dally was shocked. Shelly started to laugh, as Dally joined in, the pair looked at each other and immediately started making out.

Soda, Tori, Steve and Kirsten were standing a small distance away and had watched the whole event.

"Ewww! That is so disgusting." Kirsten said looking at Steve, "If you ever did that to me I'd be appalled."

"Ha. Yeah it was pretty sick." Steve replied. "I mean, Geez, she is a girl. Girls don't burp."

"Shoot, Steve. You're so naïve." Tori laughed.

"Yeah, I know. But that's what makes me cute." Steve said looking at Kirsten.

The party ended, and what seemed like the beginning of a new romance to Shelly had simply been another kiss to Dally. She was saddened by the idea that he had kissed her without intentions to follow through with a relationship, but soon decided it was best that way, after all Dally was unreliable, and unpredictable. However much Shelly convinced herself she did not like him, she didn't believe it. But she guessed that's just the way life is. A bitch.

Days turned into weeks and the weeks passed into the month. Soda and Steve were back to work, accompanied by Steve's broken finger and a few black eyes, from countless rumbles. The summer was nearly over. Ponyboy had been inspired to write a book by his summer writing teacher. The book was entitled "My Life. By Ponyboy Michael Curtis", although he had barely wrote three chapters he insisted it would be finished by September, when he would return to school. Darry, was proud of the fact Ponyboy was taking time to document his life and attend summer school. Meanwhile Darry had been spending an awful lot of time with Lucy. While it wasn't official they were going out, everyone sort of guessed they were and Lucy became a frequent member of the gang. Steve had become closer to Kirsten although mainly in a sexual way. They both needed the reassurance and stability of sex, but didn't seem to bother with each other otherwise. Soda and Tori became frequent lovers and had begun to engulf themselves deeper into each other. Tori began to sleep at Soda's more and more. Dally still had Buck's house although he had word from his rodeo partner that he would be returning soon.

Kirsten and Tori were sitting in Kirsten's bedroom talking.

"I'm telling you I'm not into Steve the way you dig Soda. Steve, and me well, were different, think of us as sex partners. That's all we are. Except that I don't think we have anything to talk about!" Kirsten explained as she brushed her hair. "What about you do you love Sodapop?"

"I don't know. I've never been in love. I thought I loved Ethan Matthews but what I had with him is nothing compared to what I've got now. It's so intense. I love it!" Tori explained getting slightly excited.

"Ah, that's cute. What would you do if he said he loved you!" Kirsten questioned.

"I don't know. I wouldn't say it back unless it felt right. "

Morning arrived just as it had done many times before. Kirsten, Shelly and Leigh were sitting in The Dingo having breakfast. Soda, Steve, Two-Bit and Ponyboy arrived.

"Hey, fancy seeing you here." Two-Bit remarked walking over to the table.

"Yes, sir-ee. Never guessed you guys would be here." Kirsten laughed.

"Where's Tori?" Soda asked concerned.

"Oh, she didn't feel too good and decided to sleep it off." Kirsten stated.

"She okay?" Soda's voice became shrill and concerned.

"Geez, Pop, calm down. She felt a little unwell. Not like you're never gonna see her again." Steve teased.

Soda smiled, and attempted a halfhearted laugh.

Later that day, Soda went round to Kirsten's house to see Tori.

"What's up? Heard you aint feeling too good?" Soda asked as he drew closer to the bed in which Tori lay.

"I'm okay, just feeling a bit sick. And my backs all achy. Guess I must have ate something rotten." Tori replied sitting up. "Nothing to worry about though."

Soda smiled. "Was a bit worried about you."

Tori smiled. "Ah, I guess you really care huh? Well there's no need to worry really I'm feeling much better just felt a little rotten earlier on."

"Good. I'm glad."

Soda grinned. For a moment, he was really worried. He thought about it and decided it was because he was letting himself get really close to Tori, and maybe Darry was right, maybe he was falling for her. Whatever he felt for Tori, he was pretty sure that she felt it back.


	9. Shocking Revelations

Authors Note "Just a quick note to let you all know I had to take chapter 9 down and edit it, simply because when I was writing it I was really tired and excited to update it and I forgot to proof read it …big mistake! My grammar and punctuation are terrible so I've tried to correct them, and that's therefore why I've updated it. Thanks for your reviews!"

The breeze was a cool relief as the sun beamed down on Tori's bare arms. As she made her way towards Lingford Road, the same familiar feeling which she had fought back for so long reappeared in the pit of her stomach. She was only going back to see how her mother was, and to collect some more things. It had been almost two months now, since Tori had left the imprisonment and tension of her childhood home. Sleeping at Kirsten's, Sodapop's and sometimes crashing at Buck's house, as Dally was still looking after it, had made her appreciate those around her more, and she seemed happier for it. Although she missed her mom, and Nathan, she didn't miss the atmosphere or John. She shuddered as she approached the front door, pushed her key into the lock and tried to turn it. Nothing happened. The locks had been changed. Angrily, Tori repeatedly rang the doorbell. Her mom answered, she looked happy and healthy. Before she could say anything, Tori walked into the house and started to speak.

"Mom, what's happened? Why does my key not work?" Tori asked frantically.

"Well, you've been gone for nearly two month now, and John decided it would be best if we changed the locks. You know, a fresh start. He's really changed. He's not angry, he's really nice and look what he bought me Tori." Her mother claimed showing a gold watch strapped to her arm, "You should really come home Tori, things will be different. I promise."

"Mom, you don't get it do you? Things are only good for you now because Nathan and me are gone. It was good last time I came too, but it wouldn't be good if I came home. He hates Nathan and me. I just can't come home. I'm sorry." Tori explained angered by her mother's suggestion. Why would she want to come home? She had escaped all of the hostility and violence, there was no way Tori wanted to go home.

"It's okay Hun, I understand." She paused. "I saw your brother yesterday. He has a new home number, would you like it? He also mentioned he saw you the other week with your boyfriend. Said he's a good boy, with a troubled past, knows his older brother or something. So you're happy then?"

"Yeah, I'm happy. Course I would like Nathan's number. And Soda, well, his parent's died; his brother looks after him and his younger brother. But they get along just fine."

"Should you really be getting involved with someone who has such an unstable background?" Her mom asked concerned.

"Geez, mom I can't believe you! My backgrounds more fucked up than his. What about dad? He died. Does that mean I shouldn't have a boyfriend because my dad died? John's a violent psychopath, talk about instability. Mom, I used to slit my wrists god knows how many times. I wanted to die, but I'm not messed up. You get through things, and that's what he's done. Geez, mom you're so prejudice. Why are you judging him, you don't even know him?" Tori protested.

"Watch your language! Well, his name for a start, it's rather strange. And anyway, you wont even let me meet him so how could I get to know him?"

"I never said you couldn't meet him. I just said I wasn't bringing him here. I don't want him to meet John, there is no need, he's not my dad and as far as I'm concerned he is no relation to me, whatsoever."

"Tori, you've crossed the line." Her mothers voice became shrill and uneasy. "John is part of our family. And if you don't want him in your life, you don't want me either as far as I'm concerned." Tori's mother, seemed different, she seemed cruel and uncaring towards her daughter. She and Tori had never been exceptionally close but for her to just blow her off completely was really out of character and, Tori thought, was down to John.

"Fine, if that's the way you want it. Just give me Nathan's number, I'll get the rest of my things and I'll be out of your life for good." Tori said, her eyes filling up, she fought back the tears and tried to repress her emotions.

"Oh, Tori, I didn't mean it. You can't say that. Of course I want you in my life you're my daughter. You just upset me. That's all." Janet's opinion suddenly changed and she attempted to hug her daughter.

"Okay, mom." Tori rolled her eyes, things were really different, "Well I better go and get my things together, and get going."

"Okay Tori. Make sure you bring your boyfriend with you next time. Here is Nathan's number."

Tori made her way to The Dingo, to meet her friends, thinking how differently her mom had been with her. She decided she should ring Nathan and meet up with him.

"Hey girl, how did it go?" Kirsten asked.

"Okay, I guess. My mom's so weird, she's changed it's 'cause of John. I know it. She told me she didn't want anything to do with me, if I didn't want anything to do with John. Suited me, then she apologised. She's messed up. I can't be bothered with them anymore. I think I'm gonna go see Nathan sometime. I miss him." Tori said looking at the menu.

"What you eating? Me and Shelly are gonna go order." Leigh asked looking at Tori and Kirsten.

"I'm not that hungry so just get me some fries and a diet coke please." Kirsten said passing her money to Leigh.

"I'm starving! Can you get me a chicken sandwich, large fries and a coke please?" Tori gave Leigh her money.

"Wow! Tori, I'm impressed, you don't normally eat if you're depressed, you must be getting better." Shelly stated sarcastically.

"Yeah girl, that's 'cos am not depressed!" Tori laughed.

The Dingo door opened and in walked Dally, accompanied by two other greasers, of whom Tori and her friends didn't recognise.

Shelly walked over to her seat carrying Tori's food and her own. She saw Dally and he saw them too. He strutted steadily over to the table talking to one of the greasers.

"Shoot, why does he have to be here?" Shelly complained, as Dally and his two friends arrived at the table.

"Shift up Shell, let me sit down." Dally said pinching a few of her fries.

Shelly was in shock. How could he act as if nothing had happened? And by the looks on her friend's faces they seemed to think it was okay too.

"You gonna introduce us to these broads or did you just come over here to steal their food?" One of the greasers asked Dally.

"Sure Buck. It's like you've been away too long. This is Tori Jameson, Kirsten, Leigh and Shelly, you gals this is Buck Merrill. You know, the guy whose house we've been partying at?" Dally asked.

"Oh yeah. Hi." Tori said sipping from her coke. Kirsten and Leigh smiled, while Shelly just ignored Dally, she was still angry with him.

"Which ones your honey?" Another asked.

"Non of them." Dally replied much to Shelly's annoyance.

"So, you gals up for grabs then? I'm Tim Shepard. Think I've seen you's at the party." Tim smiled.

"Yeah you would have seen us at the party, but no were not up for grabs. Tori's seeing Sodapop, Kirsten's sorta with Steve and I'm in with Two-Bit." Leigh replied.

"Shame." Tim grinned, his eyes darted between each of the girls, "You girls would have had a chance with me you know. Ha!"

"You arrogant pig!" Buck laughed hitting Tim on the back.

Tori noticed that Buck was somewhat older than them and he had a rugged appearance, which made him look tough but made Tori slightly uneasy. However Kirsten seemed to be intrigued by this older man and began fluttering her eyes at him.

Tim on the other hand, was about as old as Dally and reminded her of someone she couldn't put her finger on.

Shelly still hadn't spoken.

Tim turned and looked at Shelly. "Shoot aren't you the girl who burped in Dally's face before making out with him? Smelly Shelly Ha!"

Buck burst out laughing in unison with Tim and Dally.

"Yeah so what. You know what Dallas Winston?" Shelly started to speak.

"Yeah. What? " Dally asked.

"You are a pig and I wish I'd never laid eyes on you. I was right about you. You are a nasty immature piece of work." Shelly shouted, she picked up her drink of coke, and poured it over Dally's head, she turned to her friends and apologised, got up and left. Leaving Dally covered in coke, speechless. Buck and Tim were laughing at him.

"Yeah well, I didn't like you anyway. You stupid bitch." Dally retaliated as Shelly opened the door of The Dingo and drove off. He looked towards her friends. "That was totally uncalled for. She can fuck off. What did I actually do? Stupid bitch. Needn't think I'm going to speak to her again. See you lot later." He stormed out of The Dingo, his hair becoming sticky.

"What has Dally done to Shelly?" Kirsten asked the other two girls as they continued to eat.

"I don't know, maybe something else happened at Dally's party?" Leigh suggested.

"Yeah but if something had happened, wouldn't she have told us? Do you not think she's overreacting?" Tori said.

"Yeah maybe." Kirsten said thoughtfully.

A week or so passed. It was the last week of summer. Shelly was in a shop buying a magazine, Dally whom, was in the shop to get some beer, slowly walked up to her.

"Shelly?" He spoke expecting a shrill reaction. She turned round to face him, a shocked expression swept over her face.

"Yes. Dallas, what can I do for you?"

"I was just wanting to say sorry. I'm not sure what I've done to upset you, but I obviously have, from the way you reacted last week. So sorry for whatever I've done. Yeah?" Dally turned and started to walk away.

"Dally, wait. Thank you, I mean it. I guess I was just upset. After the party. I thought you liked me. I now know you don't. End of story." Shelly put her head down and turned to walk away.

"Shell, wait I didn't know you liked me." A grin spread across the hoods face. "I'm not really into relationships. Sorry."

Shelly turned and walked out of the store. She went to Kirsten's house, where Tori and Kirsten were sitting watching television.

"I can't take it any more." Shelly said as she walked into the sitting room.

"You cant take what? I don't understand." Tori asked a distraught Shelly.

"I am in love with Dallas Winston. He barely knows I exist. I can't take it any longer; I need him more than anything. He's so witty and mean and I love him." Shelly admitted.

Kirsten and Tori looked at each other in disbelief.

"But we thought you…"

"It doesn't matter what you thought. I'm telling you the truth. I was heart broken after the party. I made such a fool of myself. But I thought he liked me. I was so stupid to think I had a chance with him. I even took a pair of his boxer shorts just to remember him by." Shelly sobbed.

"You stole a pair of boxer shorts?" Kirsten asked in shock, how could there have been so much about their friend they didn't know? "Shelly, I'm pretty sure you weren't in love with him. You barely know him. He's a bit of a jerk anyway. Sure he's hot. But he's not that special. You could do tonnes better. Like that guy in your math class who fancies you. What's he called? James McMillan? He's a doll."

"Yeah Shell, don't worry about Dally. Why would you want to be with him? He smokes, and you hate smoking. He's always drunk. And he's not that funny, and you love funny guys." Tori said shooting a worrying look at Kirsten.

"Suppose. But I don't know. He makes me feel better, he makes me feel…actually he makes me feel stupid. I don't know why I liked him in the first place." Shelly said thoughtfully.

Kirsten and Tori looked confused, and unconvinced, however Shelly insisted she was fine and didn't want to talk about it, she would just bottle her emotions up. If her friends thought she was lying, why should she bother to explain herself to them? Sure on the outside it looked as if they were a tight group of friends, but on the inside Shelly felt alone. The outsider of the group.

Soda and Tori were sitting in the nightly double a few days later.

"If you still don't feel well you should go to the doctors Tori. School starts again next week, you don't wanna be poorly. Maybe you've got a bug or something." Soda suggested.

"Soda I'm fine. I think it's just, I'm stressing a bit because of my mom and stuff. I know that soon enough Kirsten's sister's gonna come back from Chicago, and there's gonna be no room there for me, so I'm gonna have to move back home. I don't want to. I'm gonna speak to my brother, try and see if he's got any suggestions."

"Maybe you are stressed, but you know, you could still go to the doctors just to check. And if you're ever stuck for somewhere to live, you can crash at mine. You know that." Soda kissed Tori on the cheek.

The new school year had started. Darry had made Soda attend. He kept telling him that he needed to stick in and try and get his grades up. But Soda wasn't as bright as Ponyboy. He didn't find schoolwork easy and he found it hard to keep his concentration. However, Darry didn't seem to understand that. Soda didn't enjoy learning, but Darry had loved school. He had dreamed of going to college, and supposed he was trying to get Soda and Ponyboy to live out his own dreams.

It was a hot day and the air conditioning had broken. The maths room in which Soda, Steve, Two-Bit, Leigh and Tori sat was hot and the lack of fresh air was making everyone very tired.

"Five minutes left… Come on." Soda stated as he glanced up at the clock.

"It seems like this lesson's lasted days." Two-Bit complained.

"I know, it's not good Bit. I'm just hoping our history class is cooler." Steve responded, hoping he was right.

The bell sounded and the lesson ended. Everyone stood up and began to leave. Tori gathered her things together, feeling sick and hot, she stood up and began to walk towards the door. Steve was walking in front and came to a sudden standstill as people began pushing to get out of the hot room. Suddenly there was a loud clatter. Steve's head spun round to see Tori lying on the floor. She had collapsed.

"Shit!" Soda shouted. "Tori you okay? Wake up Tor." He said as he held her head in his arms.

"Oi Sir!" Steve shouted, "Think we need an ambulance. Tori's passed out."

Mr King, the maths teacher, ran towards the limp body sprawled out on the floor. "Tori. Tori. Wake up. Leigh you go and get Mr Reynolds. Get him to call an ambulance do it quickly."

"Okay, but where is he?" Leigh asked quickly, laying her things down on a table.

"He's in the new staff room. Next to room 4E."

"Where's that!" Leigh asked panicking, as she looked at her friend on the floor.

"Come on," Two-Bit said, "I know where it is. I'll come with you. Don't worry Soda we'll get him quick." Two-Bit looked down to see his friend in despair.

Two-Bit and Leigh left the room, leaving Soda, Steve and Mr King, leaning over Tori. Suddenly she started to blink.

"Tori! You're awake!" Soda exclaimed with a happy yet concerned look on his face.

Slowly, Tori started to come around and sit up. "What happened? " She asked unaware of her blackout.

"You passed out. Are you okay?" Soda asked.

"Yeah I think so."

"Regardless if you feel okay Tori, I'm still going to have to send you to hospital. Just to get checked out." Mr King stated. "Do you want me to ring your mother?"

"No. I don't live with her anymore. But can you ring my brother please?" Tori asked rubbing her head.

"Yes, don't worry leave it to me." Mr King replied.

Later that afternoon, Tori was still sitting in a hospital bed. She had, had numerous tests and scans done. However she was unaware what was going on. Soda had stayed with her all day, but at the moment he had gone to get something to eat in the canteen with Steve. Nathan had dropped by, but had to get back to work. He was going to pick his sister up from the hospital later, so she could stop at his flat that night.

A young looking female doctor came in, she had dark hair tied back and was carrying a file in her hand. She pulled the curtains around Tori's bed and sat down on a seat.

"Can I go home yet?" Tori asked fed up with being sat in bed.

"You can soon. Just need to get you to sign a few things and I need to explain a few things." The doctor said.

"What do you mean explain a few things? Is everything okay?" Tori asked, her heart started pounding and she got a sickly feeling in her stomach.

"Yes, everything's fine. You and your baby are healthy."

"What? What do you mean my baby? I'm not pregnant I cant be." Tori's eyes widened with horror. Surely she would have noticed if she was pregnant.

"Tori, you are pregnant. We thought you were aware. Would you like a few minutes before I continue?"

Tori's eyes filled up with tears. Everything was fine, her life was getting better, why was she pregnant now? "No, I'm okay. Just continue." Tori was not okay. She was in shock.

"Can I ask when your last period was?" The doctor asked holding a pen.

"It was… about a month ago. Maybe just over a month. I'm due on now though." Tori said trying to stay calm, and convince herself this was some terrible mistake.

"Okay. And can I ask if you've suffered from stress recently?"

"About two and a half month ago, I moved out of my home. Things happened. My step dad was violent, so I've sort of been stressed. Why?"

"We are just trying to determine whether you passed out, directly due to heat and your pregnancy or something else." The doctor looked at Tori's tear stained face. "You know Tori, you have got options. You don't have to have this baby. I know it must have come as quite a shock, but it will take a bit of getting used to. If you want to talk to anyone I can get you in touch with one of our councillors."

"No, I'm okay. I just didn't expect it that's all."

"Where are you living at the moment?" The doctor asked calmly. She was friendly and made Tori feel safe. She didn't want to think of what would happen between her and Soda.

"I'm stopping with a friend at the minute. But I don't know how long that's gonna last."

"Right, well if you would like me to, I can book you an appointment to see a midwife, and possibly a social worker to try and find you somewhere to live?" The doctor suggested.

"Yeah, that would be nice if you could. Shoot, I don't know what to do." Tori sobbed.

"The most important thing at the moment is, for you to look after yourself and your baby. Talk to your partner about it. And Tori, maybe it would be a good idea to talk to your mother. Before you make any final decisions think it through. And if you ever need any advice you can talk to your midwife."

"Okay." Was all Tori could manage to say.

The night arrived and the shock had subsided. Tori hadn't told Soda yet. She was just starting to figure out how she should tell him. A nurse had been to see her and explained some things to her. The hospital staff had been really nice, and in a way she wished she didn't have to leave to face reality and tell everyone she was pregnant. She knew her mother would go spare, and she didn't want to know what would happen between her and Sodapop.

Nathan picked Tori and Soda up. By this time Steve had already gone home.

"So what did they say?" Nathan asked concerned.

"Em, just that it was down to the heat and stress. Nothing to worry about." Tori lied.

"So if it was just down to that why did they do loads of tests?" Nathan asked unconvinced by his younger sisters story.

"Just to make sure I wasn't ill. I guess. Thanks for stopping with me Soda." Tori tried to change the subject.

"No bother whatsoever. I'm just glad you're alright." Soda replied.

"Me too." Nathan stated, "Also Sodapop, thank you. I'm glad someone was there for my little sister. Are you wanting to come to my flat for a bit with Tori or are you wanting to go home?"

"Well, it's getting late. I've got work first thing so if it's okay with you and Tori I better be getting home. Darry doesn't like me in late." Soda explained.

"Yeah that's no problem Soda. I appreciate what you've done. You've had a long day." Tori smiled. She thought of how different things were going to be when they found out about the small being inside of her stomach.

Nathan pulled up to the Curtis house.

"See you Soda. And thanks." Nathan said as Soda got out.

"Yeah see you."

"I'll walk you to your door." Tori said as she got out of the car.

The short walk to Soda's door was quiet.

"Listen Tori, I need to tell you something. And I don't know if this is the right time but I don't know if there will ever be a right time." Soda stopped. Fear washed over Tori, she was expecting him to finish it with her. He opened his mouth and began to speak. "Tori, I love you. I realised today. I was so worried."

A smile began to appear on Tori's face. It was the first time she had really felt happy that day. "Really? Your not just saying it?"

"No I mean it. I promise." Soda kissed Tori.

"I think I might love you too." Tori laughed. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

A few days passed and Tori went back to school. She hadn't found the right time to tell anyone about her baby yet. Maybe she was just scared that her life would come crashing down. Maybe she didn't want to believe it was happening. Whatever the reason it was becoming harder and harder for her to contemplate telling Sodapop.

"Soda we need to talk." Tori said one night, as she and Soda were walking from the DX towards the park.

"Yeah what about? What's up?" Soda asked concerned.

"Well, you know when I went to the hospital? I didn't tell you everything." Tori said. She took a deep breath and looked first to Soda then to the ground. "Soda, I don't know how to tell you this, I'm so scared. I, I you need to know. I should have told you sooner." Soda looked scared and worried. Tori took a deep breath and carried on. "I'm nearly two month pregnant."


	10. The Aftermath

Soda's eyes widened. "What? You, you cant be. How?"

"That's what I thought. But I am. I've even done tests myself." Tori's eyes began to fill up as she sat down on the park bench.

"Shoot, Tori, what we gonna do?" Soda began to panic. "Darry's gonna kill me. And we don't have any money or anywhere to live and fuck, I'm too young to have a kid."

"Soda, I don't know. I just don't know. I can't make sense of it. I understand, if you don't want to be a part of it. I wouldn't blame you. But Soda, don't make me get rid of it. I can't. I couldn't." Tori begged.

"I won't, you don't have to. We'll sort something, I'm sure." Soda stated sounding unconvinced. The shock had hit him like a tonne of bricks. He sat down staring at the ground. What was going to happen? He didn't want a child. "Who else have you told?"

"No one. I wanted you to know first. But I couldn't tell you. I was going to. Then you told me you love me, and I didn't want to spoil the moment. I didn't want to loose you."

"What makes you think that? Shit Tori. Everything's gonna be different now. I'm gonna have to quit school and get two jobs. Shit! I don't want to be a dad." Soda started crying. Tori put her arm round him and began to cuddle him.

"Baby, don't worry. I'm sure we will figure something out." Tori sat cuddling Soda. Even though she was right next to him, she felt totally alone. Why had this happened to her? She wondered what things would be like in a few days when Soda stopped being irrational.

"Baby? Geez, Tori you really know how to rub it in, don't you?" Soda retorted.

"Soda don't be like that. It's not my fault any more than it is yours. I had to tell you. I feel bad enough as it is without everyone else kicking off. Can, can I just have a hug please?" Tori cried. Soda began to feel guilty.

"Shoot, Tori. I'm sorry. You must be feeling pretty shit. I'm meant to be supporting you and here I am crying like a little girl! Course you can have a hug." Soda wasn't entirely convinced everything was going to be okay. But he needed to think things through before made any decisions. He thought it was best to reassure Tori, and support her for now. I mean, he did love her. Didn't he?

The next day came, and Tori wasn't at school. Soda sat silently all day. Steve could tell something was up.

"Come on Soda. You know you can tell me. What's up?" Steve asked as the two friends were walking home.

"Shoot Steve, I don't even know if I can bring myself to say it." Soda's eyes looked hurt and his once excited face was emotionless.

"Buddy, what is it?"

"It's Tori." Was all Soda could manage to say.

"What do you mean? You guys finished? I noticed she wasn't in school today." Steve questioned.

"No."

"So what then? Can't be that bad? Just tell me." Steve persisted.

"She's… she's fucking pregnant. You happy now?" Soda fought back tears and kept his eyes focused on the road ahead.

"Shoot. Soda. What? But how? What you gonna do?" Steve asked shocked and in disbelief.

"I don't know. I just don't know. She unloaded the bombshell on me last night. Geez, I, I feel bad. I really do Steve. I just don't know if I could do it, if, if I could bring up a kid."

"I don't know if I could. Why do you feel bad? You love her right?"

"I don't know. Do I?" Soda asked looking at Steve.

"What do you mean? Didn't you tell her you loved her?" Steve asked unsure of where this conversation was going.

"Yeah. But that doesn't mean I need to have a kid. It's giving me second thoughts. I thought I loved her but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I don't. All I'm sure about is that I don't wanna be a dad."

The walk to Sodapop's seemed longer than usual but the short conversation with Steve seemed even longer.

"You never know Soda, you could be a real good dad. Things might turn out okay." Steve said hopefully.

"Steve. Think about it. Geez, my whole life stops here. I'm gonna have to give up everything I like, just to afford to clothe this kid!" Soda was becoming irrational and his thoughts were not making any sense.

"Hold up. Sodapop you need to calm down. Tori's pregnant. You can't leave her on her own. Well you could, but I know you won't. Buddy, listen to me its just a big shock, everything will be okay. You go home and talk things through with Darry. You'll see. Things will start to make sense."

"I hope you're right Randle. I fucking hope you're right."

Soda had sat in his room all night, with only a dim reading light to push out the darkness. The room was cast with shadows, as Soda lay there in the dark, he started thinking about what he could do, what he should say to make things better and how he was going to tell his brothers.

Lucy had been at the Curtis house all night. It was eight o'clock when Darry decided to take her home. Sodapop heard the door slam shut as he stood up and walked into the kitchen, not bothering to turn any lights on. He reached for the phone and picked it up. He dialled the number Tori had given him for her brothers flat where she had been staying the past few days.

Ring ring…

Ring ring…

"Hello." Nathan's voice answered.

"Hey... It's Sodapop. Is Tori there please? I, I need to speak to her." Soda's voice was shaky. Had Tori told Nathan?

"Yeah Soda, two minutes." The line went quiet for a few seconds, and Soda heard someone take a deep breath.

"Hello." Tori's voice sounded tired and weak.

"Hey, Tori. I'm, I wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry. I freaked out."

"Hi, thanks. Soda, I expected you to freak. I did when I found out." Tori took another deep breath. "Look, whatever you decide, I still want to be friends with you."

"Yeah. I know." Soda was quieter than usual and he wasn't his usual happy-go-lucky self. "Tori, it's mine yeah? So, I'm not going to let my child grow up without its dad. I know what its like to loose parents and not have them there. I don't want that for this baby." Soda took a long deep breath.

"Yeah? Thanks Soda. I think we need to talk properly, face to face before making any decisions. I've got to go see a midwife tomorrow and get a scan. I guess, I guess you could come. If you wanted?" Tori's voice seemed uneasy and unconvinced.

"Yeah. Can I? I will. What time?" Soda didn't know what he was doing. He didn't want to see the baby on a scan. It would make it even more real.

"We, we will pick you up at ten in the morning. Okay? Don't worry, Nathan's fine with it. Then maybe after, we could go get some lunch and talk?"

"Tens fine. And lunch sounds great." Soda heard his front door open. "Listen Tori I gotta go, Darry's back I guess me and him got some talking to do."

"Okay. See you tomorrow. And thanks." Tori seemed relieved the conversation was over.

"Love you. Bye." Soda said as he hung up the phone.

Darry was standing in the doorway, watching eagerly, waiting to find out what had happened to make his brother isolate himself.

"What's up?" Darry asked his younger brother as he hung up the phone.

Sodapop glanced around the room, desperately searching for a subject other than the one he needed to talk about. "Nothing." He lied as he looked out of the partially open window.

"Don't lie to me. It's obvious something's up. You've hidden yourself in your room all night." Darry stared at Soda as if he was trying to coax an answer from him.

"I think you need to sit down. I have something to tell you." Soda said as he grabbed a can of beer and walked towards the sitting room.

Darry's stare grew intensely and his brow stiffened as a confused and concerned look set in place. He followed his brother and sat down on the sofa. "Geez, this settees seen better days. Think we will be needing a new one soon." Darry said in attempt to lighten the mood, as he had a feeling the mood was about to become somewhat darker. "Soda, just spit it out? What you done? Pony's not in you can tell me. When am I expecting the fuzz knocking?" Darry said slightly angrily. The last time Soda had sat Darry down to tell him something, the fuzz were knocking on the door ten minutes later, as Soda and Steve had been hauled in for 'disrupting the peace'. Although it wasn't a serious offence, it was enough to piss Darry off, and Soda had looked a lot less worried back then.

"The fuzz won't be knocking. I need you to promise me, you will try and understand." Soda said looking up from his can.

"Okay. I'll try. But Sodapop, it depends what you've done. I'm guessing its bad. So I'm not promising jack shit." Darry said as he edged forward in his seat.

"Right." Soda paused and took a breath. He looked down to the floor before saying anything. "You're gonna be an uncle."

"What? Is this some sort of joke?" Darry looked at Soda, his eyes somewhat softened.

"No. I wish it was. Tori's pregnant, with my kid." Soda looked up, his once blazing eyes were saddened and lifeless. He looked at Darry. "Say something then."

"I, I …" Was all Darry could say. He clasped his hands over his hair, and started shaking his head. Soda could sense the disappointment and anger, the same emotions, which, Soda himself had shown when he found out. His eyes began to fill up once more as thoughts of his life came crashing down in front of him.

Darry looked up to see his younger brother in pieces.

"Darry. I don't know what to do. I need your help. Darry please say something. Please." Soda cried in desperation.

"Hey calm down little fellow. I'm, just shocked that's all. I'm not angry. Just shocked." Darry said with a look of disbelief, reaching for Soda.

"You're, you're not mad?"

"Listen. You're my brother. I think you're far too young to have a kid. I'm guessing this was an accident, and that's fine, everyone makes mistakes. Just because I'm not shouting at you, don't mean I'm not mad. Geez, Soda you're still at school. But it was an accident, I'm not gonna abandon you. I wouldn't be a good guardian or brother if I did that would I? I'll support you whatever you decide. But I seriously think you should learn from this. Shoot, I should have been giving you the talk and not Steve." Darry explained. "So what you gonna do?"

"I think, well I think were keeping it. I don't want to have to make Tori get rid of it, wouldn't wanna put anyone through it. So I'm gonna do the right thing, and stick by her. But I'm scared. I told her I love her. But Darry, I don't know, I'm having second thoughts, think it might be because I'm totally freaked out." Soda thought about it.

"Yeah, it will be. It's enough to give anyone second thoughts. I know staying with Tori and having the kid seems like the right thing to do, but is it really what you want? You have to think of that." Darry said taking a sip from Soda's can.

"I don't know. I suppose so. Darry I couldn't handle it if I didn't have a part in it, and my kid was growing up a couple of blocks away. Then what if Tori got with someone else. Just cause she's pregnant don't mean I still don't really care about her. It's just weird. Getting used to it."

"I suppose. Guess were gonna have to wait to buy a new settee then!" Darry said calmly. "So when you seeing her next?"

"Tomorrow, I'm gonna miss school and go to the hospital with her, she's got one of those scans." Soda explained twiddling with the ring pull off his can between his fingers.

"Yeah that seems like a good idea. Give you two a chance to talk. I'm guessing she's told her mom?" Darry asked.

"Don't think so. She's told her brother though. She reckons he's okay with it. But if I had a little sister and someone got her pregnant, I wouldn't be happy."

"Hey, he's not gonna wanna push you away is he? And besides it's not just your fault." Darry said thoughtfully. "What's Tori make of it all?"

"I think she's shit scared to be totally honest with you. She seems okay though. Bet it took some nerve to tell me. She's already nearly two month pregnant."

"Wow, she showing yet?" Darry asked.

"I don't know, I never noticed to be honest." Soda thought. He felt happier that Darry had been supportive and was half excited half nervous for the next day. As he lay in bed that night he wondered if his baby would look like him or Tori, if it would be a boy or a girl and what would happen when it was born.

The next day came and before Soda knew it, Tori was knocking on his door.

The ride to the hospital was anything but the uncomfortable silence Soda had expected. In fact the tone was somewhat cheerful.

"Soda," Nathan began to speak, Soda took a deep breath and prepared himself for a threatening lecture. "Soda, I'm real glad you're coming today. Supporting my sis. It's real good of you. You're a really decent guy."

Soda wondered if he'd heard right, was Nathan winding him up?

"Sure. Course I'll support Tori. She's my girlfriend. And this is my baby." Soda didn't really know what to say, and he was almost sure he sounded unconvincing.

"Shoot, where you guys gonna live? I mean, if you decide to bring up this baby together? No offence but my flat aint really big enough; for you two, a baby, my girlfriend, Lindsey, when she gets back from college and me." Nathan asked concerned.

"Well, I guess we could always live at mine, just until we found somewhere else." Soda suggested.

"Well, the doctor said, she's gonna book me an appointment to see social services, then they might be able to get me my own flat." Tori explained, somewhat relieved by the fact Soda seemed to be going along with it.

The three arrived at the hospital and moments later, Tori and Soda were taken into a room, lots of things were explained from complications and procedures, to help and support, and this reassured Sodapop somewhat.

It was time for the ultrasound. The midwife asked Tori to lift her top up to show her stomach. Soda saw there was a small bump. How had he not noticed? He thought to himself. He sat down on a chair anticipating what was about to occur. The midwife covered the bump with a jelly like substance and told them to watch the screen as she ran a small piece of equipment through the jelly.

"Isn't this exciting? All prospective parents anticipate seeing their baby on the first scan. I think the first scan is the best." The midwife explained as she moved the equipment over Tori's stomach. "There. Look that is your baby. That's its head there."

Tori looked at Soda, she was pretty sure what she was looking at, looked nothing like a baby. Soda was smiling, this in itself made Tori smile.

"Should I get your brother?" The midwife said excitedly. "I'm sure your baby's uncle will want to see what it looks like!"

"Yeah you can." Tori smiled. The midwife put down the equipment and left the room. "Soda. It doesn't look like a baby. Can you see it?"

"Yeah. It's really cool. Thanks for letting me come." Soda beamed.

"Thanks for coming with me! You sure you're sure about this?" Tori asked unconvinced.

"Yeah, surer than I've ever been before. Can we keep pictures of our baby? I wanna show Steve and the guys!" Soda asked excitedly.

"Sure we can." Tori replied as the door opened. Nathan and the midwife came in. The midwife placed the machine on Tori's stomach again and showed Nathan his niece or nephew.

"Ha! That's cool. I'm gonna be a good uncle Tor, I promise!" Nathan smiled and hugged his sister. He pulled away from the hug and smiled at Sodapop. "Congratulations mate!"

"Thanks. This is surreal." Soda said laughing.

After the hospital, Nathan dropped Tori and Soda off at The Dingo where they were to get lunch.

Soda and Tori were sitting in a booth laughing and looking at the pictures of their baby.

"You know something Tori, I think everything's gonna be okay. I really do. What do you think we will have?" Soda grinned.

Tori shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I dunno, I don't care as long as it's healthy."

Kirsten and Steve entered The Dingo, spotted the couple and walked over to them.

"Hey budge up pal." Steve said pushing Sodapop along.

"Hey, what's this?" Kirsten said as she picked up a picture of the ultrasound scan.

"It's our baby." Soda said before Tori could open her mouth.

"What? You guys serious? Tori, how come you haven't told me?" Kirsten asked in shock.

"Sorry. I've only just been getting my head round it." Tori said timidly. Maybe she should have told Kirsten earlier, she was her best friend.

"It's okay." Kirsten smiled. "I understand. Come here, give me a hug. You okay then? You guys are keeping it then?"

"Yeah we are." Tori said returning her friend's hug.

Steve looked at Soda with a worrying look. Soda gave him a reassuring smile and mouthed the words "I'm fine. It's okay." Steve smiled.

The next few days passed by and Tori returned to school. Tori and Soda had told everyone about the pregnancy, well everyone except her mom and John. Every time she thought about telling them she felt sick, what if they forced her to have an abortion? What if her mom hated her for it? She knew she needed to tell them but at the minute she was biding her time.

Author's Note "Thanks again for all of my reviews. Yeah you lot guessed it Tori's pregnant, but i assure you there are more 'twists of fate' in store for this lot! Please review! Thanks!"


	11. The Inevitable

_Author's Note, "Hey, Thanks to my last reviewer, Jenn! Please read and review this chapter. Was a bit sad I only got one review last time. Anyway, sorry the story is moving a bit slow. It speeds up impeccably soon! Read & review please. And thanks again!"_

Tori, was sitting with Kirsten talking, while they were waiting for their English lesson to start. Soda was working today and so was missing school.

The door opened. A greaser girl walked in. The girl was called Christie Mathews. She was tall and pretty, her long blonde hair hung to the lower of her back. Everyone knew she was a slut; she was one of those girls who were totally into themselves and would do anything to get what they wanted, no matter how nasty they had to be. She was what most people called a bitch and no matter where she was, she always liked being the centre of attention especially with the boys.

She spotted Tori at the back of the room and walked over.

"Hey Tori. Is it true?" Christie asked sporting a huge grin across her face.

"Is what true?" Tori answered calmly.

"You. Are you pregnant?" Christie laughed as if she didn't believe the new current rumour.

"Yeah I am. Why?" Tori replied. She locked eyes with Christie. Christie stopped laughing. This girl was trouble. Why was she even speaking to Tori?

"Whose is it?" She asked uneasy.

"Sodapop's." Was all Tori said.

"Sodapop Curtis?" Christie's voice became shill, and her eyes widened with horror. "But Soda's a doll. There's no way he will be staying with you. I bet he ditches you the day it's born."

"He's already said he's staying with her." Kirsten piped up. "So back off Christie. He's taken. And anyway he doesn't go out with sluts."

"Yeah? Just you wait. Sodapop will be with me by the end of the year. Just you wait Tori, you guys won't be playing happy families for long." And with that she flicked her long blonde hair and walked away.

Kirsten looked at Tori. "She's just jealous. She's been after Soda for months. She used to go to the DX all the time. Well until she got barred for shouting the odds, just 'cos Soda wouldn't go out with her. He hates her. So you, have nothing to worry about."

Tori smiled. "I hope you're right."

A few days passed. Everyone was sat in Soda's.

"Soda, I've decided I'm going to tell my mom. Today." Tori told.

"Good. It's about time." Dally stated.

"Can I come with you?" Soda asked. "I mean, I'm gonna be her grandchild's dad."

"If you want." Tori sighed. "I'm not going until John's out."

"John schmon. He can't do anything. You're pregnant. And if he does he'll have to answer to me." Dally said crunching his knuckles. "Plus Soda will be there."

Dally had a point, John probably wouldn't hurt Tori in front of Soda, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't find a way to hurt her. Pregnant or not, Tori had to watch herself with John. Even though Dally was tough, he was no match for John, but no one really understood that yet.

"I'm sure your mom will be fine. Nathan's been really supportive." Kirsten suggested positively.

"Yeah. You'll be fine. And Dally's right. If John tries anything he will have to answer to us. And you know you'll always have the support of the gang. Whatever your mom says, Tori, I'm here for both of you." Darry explained.

"Thanks Darry. That means a lot." Tori smiled. She had the support of her friends, if her mother disapproved, at least she wasn't alone.

Later that day; Soda and Tori made their way down Lingford Road. Tori stopped when they reached her house.

"Come on Tor, it will be okay." Soda smiled. His smiled warmed Tori and made her edge forward. She knocked on the door. Her mother opened it.

"Hello dear. You've just missed John. Come in."

"Hey mom. This is my boyfriend, Sodapop Curtis. Soda this is my mom, Janet." Tori explained.

"Hello dear, come in, sit down. Would you like a drink?"

"Hi. No, I'm fine thanks. This sure is a nice house you got here Mrs Jameson." Soda looked around the spacious living room. Compared to his small house this place was like a palace. How could he give Tori this? The immaculate tiled floor gleamed. This house was pristine. Soda could tell Janet was very house proud.

"Thanks Sodapop. And please call me Janet." She turned to look at her daughter who was glancing around the room. "What brings you here, Tori?"

"Just visiting." Why was her mom changing the way she spoke? She had grown up as a greaser. Why was she acting like a soc?

"Heard you stopped at Nathan's, is everything okay?"

"Yeah fine." Tori's eyes jerked towards an empty space on the wall, where her school photo used to hang, and then at the empty space where Nathan's picture used to be. "Mom, where are mine and Nathan's pictures? Why have they been taken down?" Tori was anxious. Surely John wouldn't have made her take them down.

"Oh those old things? John took them down." Janet brushed the conversation as if it was no big deal.

"I gathered that. But why? Why did you let him?"

"Well, it's his house too and you two don't live here." Janet looked at Soda as if she wanted sympathy off him. He felt awkward; life must have been shit for Tori when she was at home, he thought. What kind of woman let a man take her children away from her?

"Yeah. But that's not our fault. Besides, we're still your children." Tori began to loose her temper.

"Oh Tori, stop it. It's just a photo. Now, Sodapop, do you work? Or go to school?"

"Both. I, I, err work at the DX gasoline station, and go to school."

"Oh my, you must get awfully tired." Janet had an evil look on her face. Tori was trying to anticipate what was going to happen next.

"Yeah well, sometimes I miss school to work. So I don't get tired very often." Soda explained.

"You miss school? Oh my! What does your mother think of that?"

"Mom!" Tori shot a look at her mother, having already explained Soda's parental situation she was angry her mother had brought it up.

"It's okay Tori. My mom and dad died. My brother looks after us."

"I see." Janet looked up towards the ceiling.

"Mom. I'm pregnant." Tori finally spilled the beans.

Janet looked at her with a look of horror. "What? To him? And I suppose you've come here, to ask for me to pay for an abortion, because you cant afford one?"

"No." Tori replied.

"NO? You mean, you're not getting rid of it?" Janet screamed.

"No, were keeping it." Tori could feel herself begin to back down.

Soda began to feel a disappointment grow in the pit of his stomach, which rapidly turned to anger.

"You're what? No daughter of mine is having a baby while she's at school! Christ, what will the neighbours think!" Janet was fuming. Tori could see distinct changes in her mom.

"Who gives a fuck what the neighbours think! You don't even like them! I'm your daughter. There is no way you would have been like this if you weren't with John. And if dad was still alive. Why are you being like this?" Tori sobbed.

Soda put his arm around her. Geez, Soda sometimes thought his life was bad… compared to this it was perfect.

"Well for starters… You're pregnant, with his baby. What's that piece of trash going to give you? He isn't going to support you. He can't even support himself." Tori's mom pointed at Soda.

"Hey. That's out of order! I'm not trash and I will support her. I'm here aren't I?" Soda felt hurt. He was anything but trash, and it wasn't his fault, his parents had died and he wasn't well off. He was a greaser. Greasers weren't supposed to be well off.

"You shut your filthy trap! You can look after her. And the stinking baby. Take her. Go on. John was right about you Tori. You are a dirty whore. Get out of my house and don't dare come back. Either of you!" Janet screamed as her eyes filled up.

Tori looked into her mothers eyes, they looked hurt and somehow she felt sorry for her. "Mom, I know you don't mean that. You've been brainwashed. Please take it back. Geez, you're my mom. You're meant to give me unconditional love." Tori sobbed as Soda lead the way to the front door.

"I'm not your mom." Janet slammed the door shut on Tori as tears started falling from her eyes. If she didn't outcast Tori, then John would, except he would probably start the violence again, and Tori might not even have a baby to look after. It hurt Janet deeply to see her daughter like this, hurt, and heartbroken when she most needed her help, but Janet feared for her life and now the life of her grandchild. And that was the way it was to be from now on. As long as Tori and Nathan weren't in her life, John was happy, and when John was happy, Janet was safe.

Tori turned around to face the front door and kicked it.

"Hey calm down babe. It will be okay." Soda said putting his arm around her.

"I can't calm down. I, can, hardly, breathe." Tori said amid sobs.

"Come on. Deep breaths. Calm down. Tori, it will be okay. I promise. I know you're hurt, but it will be okay. We'll manage. You never know she might come round." Soda said trying to convince both himself and Tori.

"Maybe." Tori said, her breathing was under control and she had calmed down considerably. "I'm sorry. I'm going on stupid. I knew she would be like that… I just hoped… that maybe something might have changed."

"You're not going on stupid. But I want you to promise me you're going to try not to think about it and concentrate on keeping yourself and our baby healthy. Yeah? You could do with a lie down Tori. Come on lets go to mine." Soda suggested. Tori just nodded. She was too upset to argue.

The walk to Soda's was full of apologies.

"Soda I'm so sorry about my mom, she's stuck up. She's not normally like that. She's just brainwashed. She, she's changed. I'm sorry. But it doesn't matter what she thinks. She never has to see this baby. She won't have anything to do with it." Tori was embarrassed. Her mother had mocked and insulted Sodapop, and disowned her.

"Tori, forget about it. Yeah, she shouldn't have said it, but it's over and done with. I don't care about her, I care about you. About us, and our baby. That's all that matters now. Please don't think about it." Soda put his arm around Tori and kissed her on the head.

The weeks passed and the months came faster. Tori was four month pregnant by now. Social services had come up with a furnished flat on an estate near the DX. Tori had been living there a few days now, and was beginning to feel really happy. Sodapop had stopped there each night, and the gang had all been round. It was like a new start. Soon, Soda would be moving in, and they would be a proper little family. Tori just hoped nothing else would spoil it.

"Soda, you okay?" Darry asked as Soda began packing his things, to take to Tori's flat.

"Yeah, I just guess I'm getting cold feet. It will be weird, not living here. Not living with you guys. I just keep thinking about when Tori told her mom. I wonder what mom and dad would have said. I wonder if they would have stood by me. It's going to be strange; this kids not going to have any grandparents. Darry, what if I'm making a mistake?" Soda asked.

"Soda, only time will tell. I'm sure you've made the right decision. Don't worry about it. And in regards to mom and dad, Sodapop, you know they would have stood by you. It was an accident. And mom loved kids. They might have been a bit disappointed, but just because you're still young, just the way I was a bit disappointed. But once it sunk in, I know they would have been happy. Soda, you know there will always be a bed here and a roof over your head if you ever need or want it. And if you ever need any help, financially or anything else, just ask, I'll do my best. You know that little man." Darry smiled at his younger brother. "Geez Soda, your child's gonna have the best two uncles ever. You know, Ponyboy's dead excited."

"Yeah, I know. Wish I were as excited as him! Guess I can't stop worrying, that's all." Soda sighed as he packed. Was he really making the right decision?

Soda moved into Tori's flat and as the weeks crept past the pair became inseparable. Soda started to see less and less of Steve and the guys. He was working more and his schoolwork was slipping. The stress had begun to build up on him, and as the days passed he became less and less happy. Tori had also got a part time job in a shop, just so they could get a little extra money.

"Sodapop, you fancy doing something tonight? After work?" Steve asked his friend, as they worked on a car.

"I don't know. I'm a bit tired." Soda said, as he yawned and put down a wrench.

"You're always tired. Don't you think it's about time you had a night off being a dad-to-be. Soda, you've changed. It's been over two weeks since I saw you outside of work. It's like were not even friends anymore." Steve explained attempting to control his temper. He and Soda had been friends forever. How could a girl and a baby change everything? Steve had been there for Soda through everything, he had been the best friend he could be. Why was Soda trying to push him out?

"We are friends. I don't think you get it. I'm going to be a dad. I just want the best for Tori and my kid. I didn't know you felt like that. We will do something tonight then." Soda sighed. He had already told Tori he would cook her a meal tonight, for when she got in from work. He guessed he would just leave a note instead.

"Yeah that would be good. Don't worry; about Tori and your child, you will all be fine. Don't worry." Steve smiled. After tonight, Steve thought, he wouldn't see Soda for another couple of weeks, so he best make the most of it.

After work Soda went back to the flat to get changed. It was empty, and for some reason he felt guilty. He walked past the spare room, which had been converted into a nursery for his baby. It was a light and airy room with pastel colours on the walls. Inside was a pine cot. It had been Ponyboy's, when he was younger, but Darry and Pony said they could have it. Soda paused and stared into the empty room. Why did he feel guilty? It's not as if he was doing anything wrong. He was only spending time with his best friend. Tori still saw Kirsten regularly, and in fact Tori saw everyone regularly. But Soda worked too much to see anyone. Soda got changed and wrote a note;_ "Tori, hey, I know I said I would cook you a meal, but something's come up. Steve's feeling a bit down. He's complaining because he hasn't seen me. I wont be in late. Relax. Love you. Soda x"_ He left it on the settee, and left to meet Steve.

"Where we going?" Soda said as Steve walked towards him.

"Nowhere in particular. Were just going to Buck's for a while. Dally's invited us, he wants you to go, since he heard you've been allowed out!" Steve laughed. "He's been getting stalked you know. Off Shelly. Well he thinks it's her. Been getting dodgy phone calls, the lot."

"Right. Do we have to go to Buck's, could we not just go to The Dingo and grab something to eat?" Soda asked reluctantly.

"See you have changed." Steve stopped and looked at Soda, "There is no way the old Sodapop Curtis would turn down an invite to Buck's. You seem sad all the time now, Soda. Not your usual self, not your happy-go-lucky self. It's not right. No ones seem your award-winning smile for weeks. What's up?"

"I don't know. I am happy, some of the time. Like when we go to the hospital, and I know everything's okay. Steve, I don't know if I'm doing the right thing. I'm shit scared. I really am. I don't think I'll be a good dad. At the minute I cant even be a good friend. Tori's great, she really is, and I know that if she wasn't pregnant I wouldn't be thinking like this, but I don't know if it's going to work. I don't know if everything will be okay. Every morning I'm waking up to the same thing. School. Work. Sleep. That's all I ever do now. I used to have fun. Then what's it gonna be like when my baby's born? I'll get even less sleep! We wont have any money. And… I just don't know Steve." Soda's eyes started to fill up as he spilled his worries and fears to Steve.

"Hey, Soda, we don't have to go to Buck's. Shoot, I've been so ignorant. I thought you two were getting on just fine. You know if you don't feel happy you could talk to Tori, she would understand. She said at the beginning if you didn't want to be apart of it. If you didn't want to be with her, she would understand." Steve recalled. He smiled, even though he knew he shouldn't, deep down he didn't want Soda to be apart of it all, he missed him, and since he found out about this baby, he was spending less and less time with Steve. Maybe it was a bit of a selfish thing to think, but to Steve, it seemed like all Soda cared about was Tori and this darn baby.

"Yeah Steve, I know. I love Tori, I really do. But I can't handle it. I really can't. I'm too young. I want to be apart of my child's life. I need to be. But I don't think Tori and me are gonna last much longer. I keep shouting at her, and being a dick. I don't mean to, but I get so stressed. If I keep upsetting her like this, she, she wont want me to be part of the kids life." Soda explained.

"Why don't you tell Tori, you need a bit of time for yourself, and go and stop at home for a bit. It might help." Steve suggested.

"Maybe. We keep arguing. Like, the other day, she said, she was sure she felt it kicking or something, I told her, I didn't care. But I do. I was just cranky I was trying to get to sleep, and I couldn't because she kept talking. What am I gonna do?" Soda looked up to Steve. He shouldn't really expect Steve to answer all his problems, but at the moment he felt so alone.

"Right. This is the plan; you are going to talk to Tori, either when you get in or in the morning. Then we will talk about it from then. But as for tonight, you are going to forget about all your responsibilities and have fun! Like we used to. Okay?" Steve instructed.

"Yeah okay." Soda smiled, Steve always made him feel better, even though it seemed he always has his own interests at heart. "Come on then, we going to Buck's?"

Hours later, and the drinks were flowing at Buck Merrill's house. This small gathering lasted until late the next morning, when Soda and Steve staggered their way home. Soda was in high spirits and realised how much he actually missed life without any responsibilities.

It was six thirty am when Soda staggered up the stairs to the flat. He rang the doorbell repetitively. Tori opened the door. The look of concern on her face soon faded when she realised Soda was absolutely ripped.

"You're drunk? Where have you been?" Tori asked, as Soda fell through the door. He ignored her questions and ran for the bathroom. He was sick. Tori followed him through. "You okay? I guess you've had too much to drink." She laughed.

"For fuck sake! I can't even go to the toilet without you following me, just piss off and leave me alone!" Soda shouted. Tori's face dropped she looked scared.

"Shoot, I'm sorry, I, I was just worried about you. You said you wouldn't be in late, and you didn't call… I was just worried." Tori stuttered.

"Yeah well, you won't need to be for much longer. I can't take this, Tori. I can't. You, the baby. All of it." Soda shouted.

"What? What do you mean?" Tori's voice became shaky and her mouth was open. She could feel everything was about to fall down on her.

" I don't know. I don't know if I want this. I don't think were gonna be okay. And I don't think I want to be with you."

"Fine, you don't have to. I never asked you to stay with me. I never asked you once to be apart of this baby's life." Tori tried to fight back the tears and stay calm but she couldn't. She started to cry. Why was Soda being like this? Sure things hadn't been brilliant, but they never expected it to.

"I'm sorry but I can't do it anymore." Soda got his wallet and walked out leaving Tori heartbroken and alone.

He needed somewhere to cool off, somewhere to stay, so he went home. He started to bang on the door. Two-Bit answered.

"Hey pal. Do you know what time it is?" Two-Bit asked rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah. I do. It's Saturday so I don't give a fuck if you were sleeping, maybe you should find somewhere else to sleep." Soda said as he pushed passed Two-Bit.

"You're drunk aren't you? Shoot, why you here so early?" Two-Bit asked shutting the door.

"It's my house. And me and Tori just finished." Soda said pacing the floor.

"What? Why? I thought you guys were happy." Two-Bit woke up, his eyes were wide open. He wondered what had happened.

Darry came down the stairs rubbing his eyes. He spotted Sodapop.

"Shoot, Sodapop, do you know what time it is?" Darry asked pulling on his shirt.

"He's fucked Dar, he's split with Tori." Two-Bit looked at Darry anxious to what was going to happen.

"What's happened Soda. Sit down." Darry said.

"I don't know. I can't take it anymore. I don't want it. At the minute I feel like I don't want her. But I do, but nothing makes sense. I'm sick of been told what I should be doing, what should happen. I had to get out of there."

Darry and Two-Bit stared at Soda.

"I'm sure you guys will work things out." Darry stated. Hoping he was right.

"No. I don't think so. I've screwed it up big time. We're starting to argue loads and she, she I don't know. Darry it's gone. It really is." Soda slurred.

"It's not gone. You're pissed. You can't solve anything in this state. Go to bed, and when you wake up you go to the flat and talk things through. Okay?" Darry instructed. Soda nodded. Darry and Two-Bit watched as Soda fell up the stairs.

"Geez, it must have been some fall out for him to get that pissed." Darry stated.

"I think he was pissed before they fell out." Two-Bit looked around the room.

It was three o'clock before Sodapop emerged. Everyone was out, except Ponyboy.

"Hey sleepy head." Pony laughed as Soda walked downstairs. "Must have been some night, huh, if you couldn't even find your way to the flat." Ponyboy giggled.

"Not really. Went to Buck's. Got pissed. Finished with Tori, came here. That's about it really." Soda explained rubbing his head. "But you know what the weird thing is, I can't even remember what was said between me and Tori, yet I know that it's over."

"No. You can't be!" Pony exclaimed in astonishment. "You have to get back together. What about the baby?"

"Yeah I know. But we are finished." Soda sighed. "Guess I'm gonna have to go around there and see what I said."

"Yeah. I guess. It can't be good though. You always say stupid things when you're pissed." Pony looked at Soda. He had always admired his older brother, he was one of those guys who could cheer anyone up, he always made everyone smile, and here he was, sad himself. Pony didn't know what to do.

"I know. I hope I didn't say anything too bad." Soda grabbed a bottle of apple juice and headed for the door. "Wish me luck Pony."

"Good luck."


	12. Alone

Author's Note; "Thanks again for your reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Soda's getting pretty messed up now. Anyway please read and review."

Tori meanwhile, had sat in the flat all day. She was hurt and upset and had taken to watching films and eating crap. Kirsten had been round, and even Dally had made an appearance. But she hadn't heard anything from Soda. She was unsure if she even wanted to. How would she cope on her own? But it wasn't all about the unborn baby. It was about her and Soda. Why had they let themselves get into such a routine, which they didn't like? They should have made more of an effort with each other. Perhaps they should have spent more time apart. Whatever the reasons, Tori felt as though she had driven him away and that's all she could think about. She wanted to call him, she wanted to talk to him, but she couldn't bring herself to pick up the phone. He might have been drunk, but what he said was obviously the truth.

Around half three in the afternoon, Tori was dosing off when she heard the door open. She sat up abruptly and waited for the 'door opener' to walk through the sitting room.

Soda opened the door slowly, and peered around the corner. "Hey." His voice was shaky, he sounded uneasy.

Tori fought back her tears, and without looking at him, replied with "Hi."

Soda pushed open the door, to reveal the sitting room in a mess. The duvet from their bed was draped around the settee, alongside a few pillows. A big bar of chocolate lay, half eaten, on a small coffee table; alongside a big bag of potato chips, a mug of half-drunken hot chocolate and a box of tissues.

"Wow. This is a mess!" was all Soda could think of saying. _Great icebreaker, _Soda thought,_ she's going to think I'm pissed off, and I don't want to fight anymore._

"Yeah. Well. I'll tidy it up, when I feel like it. I've cleaned up enough today." Tori said, her eyes still fixated on the television. It seemed too painful to look at Soda.

"What do you mean?" Soda asked, curious as the flat looked messier than it had last time he had been in it.

"I had to clean up your sick. Remember, you were sick this morning, when you came in absolutely ripped, off your face." Tori's eyes hadn't moved.

"Oh, yeah. About that, sorry."

"What, you're sorry that I had to clean up your sick which was splattered all around the toilet? Or you're sorry because you came in drunk and acted like a prick?" Tori's head turned to face Soda, who was still stood in the doorway. Her eyes were like daggers, which sliced straight through him. Soda knew he had hurt her, this made him feel worse.

"Well, both. To be honest with you, I can't remember what was said. I really can't. I don't know what to say to you." Soda sat down on a chair.

"Sodapop, don't. I think you said all you had to say this morning. And if you can't remember, how about, I recap for you. You told me to 'piss off' and 'leave you alone'. You can't take it anymore. Me, the baby, any of it. So you walked out." Tori's eyes turned back towards the television to prevent herself from revealing her emotions, and begging Soda to come back to her. She knew it would be a stupid thing to do, but she needed him and at the minute she wasn't thinking straight.

"Geez, I'm sorry. Fuck. I've screwed it all up haven't I?" Soda put his head in his hands. "I didn't mean it to come out like that. I meant, that, we've started to argue all the time and I keep upsetting you, so maybe we should call it quits. It's not that I don't love you, because I do. I do want to be apart of our baby's life. But I don't think things are working between us. I want to stay friends Tori, and maybe in a couple of weeks or something when things have cooled down and we're not stressing each other out. Then maybe we could make a go of it again." Soda paused. Tori's eyes were fixated to the screen; Soda saw a tear roll down her soft cheek. If it was hard for him to say, it must have been even harder for her to accept. The possibility of raising a child on ones own must be a terrifying thought, but Soda had to choose. He had to choose between a break-, which could sort things out, or trying to slog it out- which could result in a bad break up. He knew what he had to do. "Tori, talk to me. Look at me. Please. This isn't easy. You're the only girl I've ever felt like this with. I don't want to loose you. But I can't handle all this pressure, this responsibility. Please, try and understand."

Tori turned to look at Soda, tears falling from her bright green eyes. She looked so vulnerable, so innocent. Like a child. "Soda, that's fine. You want to be apart of its life but you don't want to be involved until it's born. Okay. That's fine." Tori was angry, but mainly she was sad- not about Soda leaving her when she was pregnant, but the fact she loved him and he was ending their relationship because of a twist in fate.

"Really? You're okay with it?" Soda was astonished and for some reason this made him feel bad.

"Yeah I get it. You choose when you have responsibility, because you're scared. Whereas I, well I'm just stuck with it forever. That's absolutely fine. I just wished you had decided that when I first told you. Would have saved a lot of hassle."

"Don't be like that with me. Please. I just need a bit time alone. I'm sure after that I'll be able to settle down with you." Soda explained.

"Yeah, and what if I decide I don't want to settle down with you?" Tori was being stubborn. She didn't mean to be; it was just because she felt hurt. She didn't want to lay her emotions down, she didn't want her heart to be trampled on anymore than it already had.

"Tori come on. I'm shit scared. I don't know what to do." Soda moved on to the settee, and picked up one of Tori's hands. It was hot and clammy. Soda noticed that, Tori's once long and perfect nails, had been chewed off and were now a row of rough jeered, edges.

"Yeah, Soda, I'm sorry. I'm just, I'm terrified. I'm scared to be on my own; I'm scared for the birth. I'm scared to loose you. Everyone I've ever loved, they've been taken away, my dad, my mother, and you… it's okay though… I understand." Tori felt her guard falling down in front of her eyes. She knew she had to let go, if there was any hope of her and Soda keeping a friendship, she had to let go.

"I'm sorry. I really am." Soda wiped a tear from Tori's eye and attempted a smile. She smiled back and mouthed the words, 'I love you'. The pair hugged in silence, both thinking about the future.

Hours later, after more heart wrenching discussions, Tori and Soda had decided it was best if Soda went back to live with Darry and Pony. He gathered his things together. The two lovers said a tearful goodbye and Soda left the flat.

The next day Steve came round to Soda's. It was around lunchtime, and Soda was still sitting around in his boxer shorts.

"Hey Buddy. I heard you two split huh? You okay?" Steve questioned as he sat down.

"Yeah. I'm fine; I think she's fine. I just miss her. I'm depressed." Soda said taking a swig from his can of coke.

"Shoot, Soda. Get a grip! You only split yesterday. You're not depressed. You'll see her again." Steve rolled his eyes. "Anyway she's not your responsibility now. She's just a bit of pregnant eye candy, and she will be pretty vulnerable now, so she will be an easy target. And you, you're single, with no attachments. Which makes you, back in the game!" Steve explained.

"No. That's not how it is. Tori's not easy and she's not back in the game." Soda retorted.

"If you say so. Tori's fit. And young single mothers, need reassurance, in the form of sex. So she will be gagging for it soon!" Steve exclaimed. "You might as well start dating… and I know just the girl… Christie Mathews. She's hot. And she puts out."

"Shut it Steve. I'm not dating that slag. And Tori's not like that. By the sounds of it, you wanna bit of her." Soda's voice became slightly aggressive.

"Yeah, wouldn't mind." Steve joked. "Just go on a date with her."

"Steve I've had enough of you telling me what to do. If it's not at work, it's in my love life. All I ever hear is 'Soda, do this' and 'Soda do that'. I'm sick of it. So lay off." Soda shouted.

"Me? Telling you what to do? It all changed when you got with Tori. She was in control. Then you were all like, 'Tori this' and 'Tori that' and 'me and Tori are having a baby'. I've never told you what to do Soda, because if I had you wouldn't have been so obsessed with your girl, and ignorant of the rest of the world." Steve scoffed.

"That's bullshit Steve and you know it! You just don't get it at all do you? I'm having a baby. I'm going to be a dad! I'm sorry if hanging with you and getting pissed isn't my main priority now! Just fuck it Steve. You're pissing me off." Soda screamed.

By this point Soda and Steve were both stood up. Anger was building up inside Soda like a bomb ready to explode. It wasn't as if all this anger was because of Steve, it had been building up inside of him for some time. He needed to cool off.

"You know what? You're acting just like you did when your parents died. Shutting everyone out."

Soda felt a surge of anger and the next thing he knew he had hit Steve over the head with a big clock, which rested on a cabinet.

Steve fell to the floor.

"Shit! Steve I didn't mean it I'm sorry!" Soda said as he dropped to the floor to see if Steve was okay. He didn't move. Soda touched his head. He looked at his hand. It was smeared in blood. What had he done?

He picked up the phone and dialled 911. He called an ambulance. The ambulance took Steve to A&E, where he was fixed up and put on several machines. The doctor told Soda he could go in to see Steve. He had had to have four stitches in his head and to do this the doctor had to shave a clump out of Steve's hair. The doctor had said it was lucky the blow wasn't five centimetres to the right because it probably would have punctured his temple and caused brain damage.

Soda walked into the room. Steve was sitting up right in bed. He had a monitor attached to him by small, round sucker-like things attached to his chest, which was measuring his heart rate.

"Hi." Soda felt really guilty. He kept thinking about what would have happened if he had hit him five centimetres to the right. He shuddered at this thought, as the guilt surged through his veins. Why had he done it in the first place? "Steve I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do it. It was an accident. I'm sorry." Soda apologised.

"Whatever Soda, you hit me over the head with that clock. You heard what the doctor said; if it was five centimetres to the right you could have knocked me senseless if it hadn't killed me. The doctor asked if I wanted to get the fuzz involved. Said I could get you charged. I said it was an accident, even though I know it wasn't. But you see Soda, you are or should I say were, a friend, and friends don't call the fuzz on each other. Or try and kill each other. So that's it Soda, you got what you wanted. You can spend all your time with Tori now; you don't have to worry about me. We're no longer friends. So get out. Go away and leave me alone. Now." If looks could kill, Steve would have been charged with murder, Soda sighed, turned and walked out of the room. What had he done? Why had he done it? He hoped Steve would forgive him, he usually came round after a day or two when they fell out. But Soda had never done something like this before. Soda carried on walking down the corridor when he saw Steve's dad running towards him.

"Where's Steve? Is he okay? What happened?" Mr Randle questioned.

"He's just in that room there. He's okay. Got four stitches, had some hair shaved off, he doesn't look so tuff. I'm sorry. We were arguing and I hit him with a clock. I didn't mean to. It's just, it was an accident. I'm so sorry." Soda blurted out.

"A clock?" Mr Randle laughed. "Ha! What you boys like? Thanks Soda, see you."

Soda guessed Mr Randle was just starting to sober up. He thought it was funny his son had been injured by a clock. Strange. But then again, Steve's dad had always been strange. He had been a heavy drinker since Soda could remember. And he was always throwing Steve out the house for no good reason. But why he thought it was funny was beyond Soda.

He decided he would go and see Tori. Just to make sure she was okay. He needed some reassurance.

He walked up the path, which led to the flat, only to be greeted by Nathan and his girlfriend, Lindsey, who had returned from college.

"Hey Soda," Nathan smiled. "Tori's not in."

Soda frowned. "Ah, do you know where she could be? I wanna talk to her see if she's okay."

"Yeah, that's why we came over too. Lindsey this is Soda, Soda, Lindsey, my girlfriend. She must be on that date she was going on. I could have sworn it was tomorrow but maybe I was wrong." Nathan explained.

"A date? Who with?" Soda asked, he had a sickly feeling in the pit of his stomach. Had Tori forgotten about him already?

"Did she not mention it? I thought she would of; she was really excited about it. I can't remember his name. Well we better get going but if you do see her can you tell her we called by? Thanks. Bye." And with that Nathan and Lindsey walked away, leaving Soda astonished.

"Why did you say that? Isn't Tori just over Kirsten's?" Lindsey asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. But I thought if Soda thought she was on a date then he would make more of an effort to get back with her. They both love each other. It's just they're both petrified!" Nathan explained.

"Shoot, Nath, you're evil." Lindsey laughed as they walked away.

A few days passed by and Steve was out of hospital, he still wasn't speaking to Soda. Darry had been round to see Steve frequently, and had given Soda a stern lecture. Soda had started isolating himself. Darry was concerned. Ponyboy let it slip that Tori hadn't been in school, hadn't answered the phone when he had called, and was apparently seeing someone else. Darry's advised Soda to do something to take his mind off her.

Soda didn't want to date anyone else though. He pined for Tori. He felt so alone and the guilt of what he had done to Steve was growing by the day.

He was sitting in a history lesson gazing out of the window when his view was obstructed. Christie stood in front of him, her long blonde hair dazzled in the sunlight.

"Hey Sodapop." She said as she sat down. "Shame about you and Tori huh? And you and Steve? Shoot, you must be pretty lonely right now."

"Yeah well. Shit happens."

"Would you like to go for something to eat tonight? Say at The Dingo. Six o'clock?" Christie asked flirtatiously.

"Yeah. Why not?" Soda replied.

"Cool. That's a date then!" Christie giggled as she stood up, the happiest she had been in a while, and returned to her friends. Why had Soda agreed to this? He hated Christie. But he was trying to get over the fact Tori was seeing someone. But in actual fact she wasn't. The truth was somewhat different.

Tori had stayed in the flat while everyone was at school. She had phoned in sick at work and started becoming depressed. She began to loose her confidence and she felt like she did when she used to cut. But she was a stronger person now; she didn't need to use self-harm to anymore… She needed to stay focused, Kirsten was making sure of that. She arranged to meet Tori, at the park at six.

Six o'clock came and without making much effort, Soda was sat in The Dingo with Christie. She was dressed as if she was going to some posh restaurant. Soda didn't care. He hated her. He was just trying to take his mind off Tori and Steve. They ordered food and began to talk. Soda decided, although Christie was shallow, she was okay to talk to. A change. Soda noticed across the room, Steve, Two-Bit, Dally and Leigh were sitting eating. Had everyone taken Steve's side? Soda wondered.

Half an hour passed, it was ten to seven. Soda was bored. He heard the familiar sound of the door open, he glanced over, and Tori and Kirsten walked in. His heart pounded. What would Tori think if she saw Soda with Christie?

"Oh my God! Look at the size of her. You were so right to end it! She's fat!" Christie laughed.

"No, Christie she's pregnant." Soda said, still staring at his ex as she made her way over to Dally's table.

"Same difference." Christie stated.

Tori looked over, she spotted them.

"What the fuck is she staring at? I'll give her something to look at!" Christie exclaimed, pulling Sodapop towards her and locking her lips onto his.

Tori stood up as she continued to watch her ex boyfriend kiss that slut. By this point the whole table was staring in disgust. How could Soda do that?

The kiss ended and Soda looked towards Tori. She turned and walked out of the diner. Soda stood up.

"Tori! Wait!" Soda shouted after her. He started walking towards the door, Kirsten stopped him.

"She's been seeing someone though. You know that. So why should I wait around? She hasn't!" Soda defended himself.

"I'll go after her." Dally stated as he ran out of the doors.

"Don't you think you've done enough damage?" Kirsten shouted. "First you leave her, and don't bother contacting her. Now, you're kissing that whore in front of her. Geez, Soda you're not the guy I thought you were. Just stay away from her. I can't believe you. Soda. Tori isn't seeing anyone, she's heartbroken."

The whole diner was staring over to the rift, which was happening in the middle of the squared floor.

Kirsten turned to Christie, who didn't move. She sat there with a huge smirk on her face, as if she had enjoyed every minute of it.

"What you smiling for? You think you're clever? You knew we were coming here! You set the whole fucking thing up! Didn't you?" Kirsten shouted.

"Of course." Christie's smile grew evil; "I needed to get Sodapop back, for choosing that bitch over me. And I think I have just succeeded. Bye." She stood up and walked towards the door.

"You know something Christie? If I didn't have any sense I would have floored you. But, I'm not going to sink to your level. Leave Tori alone." Kirsten walked towards her table and continued to eat her food.

Soda stormed out of the diner. Could things get much worse?

Tori walked into her flat dropped her things and went to the bathroom. She found a razor blade and held it over her fragile wrists. She ran it quickly over her arm, blood dripped from the thin cut formed on her arm. She repeated this action twice more. She felt relaxed. It was as if every time she cut, it was like a safety valve was being opened, releasing some of her suffering. For a few moments the pain, which she felt, had subsided. Tori had forgotten this feeling and she had almost forgotten that she had stopped. The doorbell rang. Once. Twice. A third time. _This better not be Soda_, she thought as she wrapped her arm in tissue and pulled her sleeve down, placed the razor blade back in the cabinet and answered the door.

Dally was standing there. He looked worried.

"Come in." Tori said. The truth was she didn't want Dally there. She wanted to be alone.

"You okay? That was pretty nasty." Dally asked.

"Yeah. Sure I am. Soda's single, if he wants to go out with sluts, well that's fine." Tori sat down on the settee. Her duvet was still there, and the room was still pretty messy. The bar of chocolate had been replaced with a different one, however its wrapper lay beside the new one.

"So, you like chocolate?" Dally said as he looked at the bar.

"Yeah, its my craving at the minute." Tori explained. Dally sat down next to her. "Do you mind if I rest my head on your shoulder?" She asked.

"No, of course not. You gonna talk to me then?" Dally asked.

"What's there to talk about? I'm four and a half month pregnant, and I'm alone. My mother hates me, my dad's dead. My brother's got his girlfriend. My boyfriend left me to go out with a slag!" Tori began to feel anger and disappointment pain in her fresh wounds.

"Tori, you know you've got me, and Kirsten, Leigh, Darry, Pony, Johnny, Steve and everyone else. You know Soda loves you. He's just confused he's weird. Always has been. He'll come round." Dally sighed.

"Yeah well. I thought he hated her though. I thought he did."

"He does. He only done it cause he thought you were seeing someone. Anyway, Christie's a slut. Don't worry about her. And don't you worry about Soda. Anyway, what you going to call your baby? Got any names picked out. 'Cos I was thinking… what about Dallas?" Dally laughed.

" Ha. I don't know. Haven't thought about it really. Soda thought about calling it Jack, if it's a boy. But I just don't know."

Hours passed by and the more Dally talked the safer Tori felt. For tonight she had forgotten about her worries, forgotten about her cuts and actually smiled.

"You know something, I'm getting stalked. I have this feeling that someone's watching me the whole time I'm out of the house. You know, eyes on the back of your head or something. I don't know, but in the night, someone rings and, and if Buck answers they hang up. If I answer they sit and listen to me curse. I don't know who it is but I think it could be Shelly. You wanna find out for me?" Dally asked.

"Yeah, sure I'll try." Tori sighed.

"You wont be alone forever Tori. You're hot. You really are. In fact that night at the movies I was gonna try my luck but Soda steamed in first." Dally smiled.

"Huh? Shoot, really? I wish you had, then maybe I wouldn't be in this mess!" Tori exclaimed.

"Ah, shoot Tori. You don't mean that. You and Soda you will work it out." Dally grinned at Tori. Even though she was pregnant, and sporting a rather big bump, she was still beautiful. Dally instinctively leaned in and kissed Tori.

_What's he doing? _Tori thought as she kissed him back. _Mm, he is a good kisser. _

The kiss ended, Dally pulled away.

"Shit. I shouldn't have done that. You're pregnant, with Soda's child." Dally remarked.

"Yeah, well if you shouldn't, why did you?" Tori asked.

"I wanted to. I wanted to for ages." Dally stated. "You can't tell Soda. Darry would kill me."

"Yeah well, he kissed Christie so it's got nothing to do with him." Tori looked at the clock. Dally saw this.

"I better get going, got to be up early tomorrow. But you know if you need to talk." Dally winked, picked up his jacket and left.

Tori sat alone in her flat, for some reason she was smiling. Dally had just kissed her. But why? Why had he done it? It just didn't make sense.


	13. The Truth Uncovered

_Author's Note; "Thanks for reviewing! Chrissy, Steph, Vincenza, and Shermern. Really appreciate it. I know you all hope Tori ends up with Soda, but do you really think he deserves another chance after the way he's gone on?Ah... it's so sad they both love each other but both think each other are over it. Just wait and see what happens. Things start to spice up a bit after this chapter! Please read & review! Thankyou."_

Soda woke up early the next morning determined to sort things out with Tori. He was downstairs and fully clothed the same time as Darry.

"Hey little man. You're up early. You going to school?" Darry asked confused. The only time Soda got up early was if they were going somewhere for the day and he had to.

"No. I'm going to the flat. I'm going to sort things out with Tori once and for all. I screwed up again, after taking your advice. I'm not going to do it again. I'm gonna think for myself." Soda stated as he crunched on his cereal.

"Good for you. What did you do this time?" Darry asked. He made a cup of tea and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Went on a date. With a slag, she kissed me in front of Tori. It wasn't pretty. Thing is I hate the girl; I don't know why I even agreed to go out with her." Soda explained between mouthfuls. "Then it turns out she was playing me just to get back at me 'cos I wouldn't date her in the first place." Soda mumbled.

"I see. Sounds like a bitch." Darry laughed.

"It's not funny Dar, I'm telling you it was awful. Then I found out Tori hasn't even been seeing anyone. I'm such a fool!"

Hours later and Tori was awoken to the sound of the doorbell. She stretched in her bed and looked towards the clock. Eight o'five am. Who would be knocking at this time? She rolled over and tried to ignore the irritating noise. Ring…Ring… She took a deep breath and sighed, taking in a smell of Sodapop, she sat up.

That was not something she wanted to be reminded of at the minute. She rolled out of bed and re-tied her hair.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." She shouted, as she picked up her silk dressing gown and wrapped it around her frail body. Half asleep, she unlocked the door and opened it. Sodapop was standing there dripping wet. The rain was pelting off the ground. Tori immediately tried to close the door. Soda pushed his hand against it, keeping it slightly ajar.

"Tori. Please. We need to talk. Please let me in." Soda begged, raindrops falling from him.

Tori let go of the door, walked into the kitchen, and started pouring a glass of milk.

"Go on then. Talk." Tori said taking a drink of her cold milk.

"I don't know where to start." Soda rubbed his hair. Water dripped from it. Tori walked out of the room and out of sight, she came back and threw a towel and one of his tops at him.

"Dry yourself off. I don't want you getting everything soaking." Tori sighed. Secretly she was happy to see him. Deep down she was scared. As Soda took his top off, Tori couldn't stop staring. His body glistened with water droplets, and he looked gorgeous. She felt the urge to kiss him and forget everything that had happened. Tori snapped back into reality. Soda had hurt her. She didn't need this.

"Thanks. Tori, I'm sorry. It wasn't what it looked like. I thought you were seeing someone, and I got jealous. I only went out with her to take my mind off you. She kissed me. I hate her. And then I found out that she only went out with me to get back at me for not dating her in the first place." Soda said, hoping Tori would see that he was telling the truth.

"Ah, boo who. She treats you bad? She made a fool of you? I don't care Soda. It's your life. You can do what you want." Tori's voice was filled with sarcasm and was intimidating. She turned away from him as he explained his story, she could feel herself start to melt.

"Tori don't be like that. I was gutted. I thought you were with someone else. What else do you expect me to do?"

"It would have been nice if you had actually asked me. Who told you that?"

"Your brother. He said you were on a date." Soda told.

"Nathan? What a dick!" Tori spun around. She was furious. "Well, I wasn't on a date."

"So since we split you haven't kissed anyone or been out with anyone else?" Soda asked somewhat relieved.

"Well I hadn't. Up until last night. I kissed Dally." Tori stated. She felt bad, but why should she? She hadn't done anything wrong.

"Dally? Dallas Winston?" Soda's mouth dropped open. _How could she stand there and go on at me? She's been getting it on with Dal!_ Soda thought, anger building up inside.

"Yeah. You know any other Dally's?" Tori replied sarcastically. "It didn't mean anything. It was just a kiss." Tori felt embarrassed. She knew it shouldn't have happened, but it was a small slither of reassurance and at the moment, she needed it.

"Yeah, sure it was just a kiss. Bet you threw yourself at him didn't you? Tell you what Tori. Fuck it. I shouldn't have come round here. You're a bitch. You're a hypocrite. Telling me I shouldn't have kissed Christie! But all the while you know, you've been digging Dally." Soda threw the towel to the floor. "See you Tori. Just leave me alone. I don't want you in my life. You're a two faced bitch." Soda grabbed his wet top and slammed the door behind him.

_This is it_. Soda thought as he walked down the flooded path and across the road. He had fucked everything up. He had lost his best friend, his girlfriend and his baby. Why could he not control his temper? Why couldn't he accept responsibility? No matter what he tried to do, it seemed, just made things even worse.

Tori lay down on their bed. She was angry. Why had she let it get so out of control? She needed to get up, she needed to do something but she couldn't. She was scared. Fear was consuming her. Eating her up inside.

Her arm ached as the cuts had begun to tighten. She pulled up her sleeve and looked at them. She ran her fingers over the brittle scratches. They stung. She thought about the razor blade, still sitting in the bathroom cabinet. She wanted to get up. She wanted to use it. But she didn't have the strength. Tori lay there, still thinking about what would happen if she plunged the blade deep into her veins. No one would find her, until it was too late. This thought ploughed over and over in her mind. However, much she thought about it Tori knew she didn't want to die, she used self-harm as a coping strategy, rather than giving up. She had done it frequently when her father had died, and when John had become unbearable. In these times of difficult and painful experiences, she found she needed to release tension. And at the moment Tori felt as if her life was spiralling out of her control, which is why, she had began cutting. She knew she could control that at least. All she wanted was for someone to show her love and compassion. Someone to understand, and support her. She thought she had found that in Soda. Obviously not. For a few hours she thought desperately of how she could stop thinking about cutting herself. This was useless. Tori saw no other way out; she was desperate to escape, desperate to feel in control, to feel free. Finally she stood up and went to the bathroom, pulled out the razor and began to slash at her forearms. Blood appeared all over her arms. Even though the cuts where not deep enough to kill her, she felt relieved.

Soda was at home sitting on his settee. He began to think of how he could sort things out with Steve. He needed him. Why had he hurt him? Why had he pushed him away?

The front door crept open. Dally walked in as if nothing had happened. His leather jacket glistened with water and his hair was wet.

"Hey Pop, is Two-Bit here?" Dally asked rather happy.

"No. Have a good night last night?" Soda asked sarcastically.

"Was okay. A bit weak. Why?" Dally asked suspiciously. He started to brush away his suspicions as Soda paused before he spoke. Surely Soda didn't know.

"Don't lie to me Dal. I know you kissed my girl." Soda spat.

"I didn't kiss your girl. I kissed Tori. Tori's not your girl." Dally retorted defensively.

"Shut it! That's the same thing. Why? How could you do that?" Soda questioned.

"Geez, it happened. No biggy." Dally shrugged, turning for the door.

"Yeah it is a big deal. I can't believe you two. You're both so scheming. I can't believe I've ever trusted you. So what happened? Did she come on to you? Or was it you?" Soda questioned. His temper was rising steadily.

"It was me. I don't know why I done it. Just leave it Soda." Dally stated.

"I can't leave it Dal. You don't get it do you? I love her. I can't just forget it." Soda slumped in his seat.

"Yeah well maybe you should have thought of that before you blew it." Dally turned and walked out of the door. He didn't want to argue, and he certainly didn't want to fight, not with Soda. He couldn't be bothered. Especially not over a girl. Dally knew what he done was wrong but he wasn't going to back down. He was too proud to do that.

A week passed and Tori's habit became more repetitive. Every time she was alone, the razor blade would come out. Tori had begun to cut the top of her legs; this was less obvious to the eye. Her and Soda hadn't spoken. She had started to become more and more isolated, refusing to leave her flat. She even quit her job. Nathan had to work away for three weeks. He left after having Kirsten promise she would keep an eye on his sister.

Kirsten had slept at the flat for three days. Tori was trying to act normal, trying to stop Kirsten from finding out. She waited until Kirsten was fast asleep until she crept into the bathroom to begin her work. On the outside Kirsten just thought Tori was nervous about the baby, as she was just over five months pregnant now. On the inside she was at the edge of her tether and was desperate.

One night, Lucy, Leigh and Shelly had come round. Everyone except Tori had been drinking.

"You need to start thinking about baby names!" Kirsten stated excitedly as she jumped onto the settee.

"Yeah I guess. Still I've got another four month to think about that!" Tori laughed. She smiled. Kirsten was oblivious to what was going on. She didn't have a clue that Tori was unhappy deep down. _Kirsten is a real good friend _Tori thought as she smiled.

"Yep!" Shelly exclaimed. "How about Winston, for a boy?"

All four girls stared at Shelly who was smiling, too drunk to care what she had suggested.

"As in, after Dallas Winston?" Leigh questioned.

"No. Oh, I see. I didn't realise. Just liked the name, I guess." Shelly lied. Her obsession with Dally was growing, and just as Dally had suspected she had been following him and ringing him in the dead of the night. She was infatuated with him.

"Okay. I got one!" Lucy suggested, feeling slightly tipsy from the wine she had been drinking. "How about Sienna? It's different."

"Nope." Tori smiled. "My baby ain't no Sienna."

"You should call it Leigh. Boy or girl. After yours truly." Leigh laughed as she gulped down a large glass of wine.

"I got one for a boy. What about Pepsi? After his dad! Ha!" Shelly started laughing.

"Sorry Tori, maybe it would be best if we left." Lucy stated feeling rather uncomfortable. "Shell is just a bit drunk she don't mean no harm by it."

"Yeah sorry Tori," Shelly sniggered.

"It's okay. I understand. Maybe it would be best if you did go. It's getting late. I'll be going to bed soon." Tori half-heartedly convinced herself. She didn't want to be reminded of Soda.

Kirsten and Leigh were least impressed by Lucy and Shelly's drunken antics; they were, in fact, more upset than Tori.

When Tori and Kirsten were sitting alone, Kirsten realised something was up.

"What's wrong?" Kirsten asked sympathetically. "I know something's up. You got to tell me."

"Just thinking about Soda." Tori replied. In truth she was thinking about calling him.

"What about Soda?"

"Just about how much I love him. I thought I was getting over him. But I'm not. I'm really not."

Kirsten expected Tori to start to cry, but she didn't. She had cried all of her tears away. Instead she just sat there. Holding her arm, which was draped, in long sleeved top.

"Come here. Give me a hug. You don't need Soda. You've got me." Kirsten hugged Tori. As she pulled away she held onto her arm. Tori flinched with pain.

Tori's green eyes looked scared. Had she been rumbled? Kirsten slowly pulled up Tori's sleeve revealing lots of blood red scars and scratches. Kirsten's eyes filled up. How had she not noticed?

"Shit Tori. What you been doing? Why?" Kirsten struggled to speak as Tori jerked her arm away.

"It's nothing." Tori said as she fought back tears.

"Why didn't you come to me? I could have helped you. You promised you wouldn't do this to me again Tori. I cant loose you. You're my best friend." Kirsten sobbed. She had been through this with Tori before.

"I'm sorry. I, you, you wont loose me. I just didn't know what to do. I, I, I'm scared. Kirst, I'm really scared." Tori cried as she hugged Kirsten. She felt relief. Someone understood. Her silent plea for help had been answered.

After a long discussion, Kirsten promised she would help Tori. They got rid of the razor blades, and bandaged up Tori's arm and legs. Tori had made Kirsten promise not to tell anyone. Especially not her brother. From now on Kirsten was to keep a watchful eye over her friend. She would have to be careful to notice any changes in Tori's behaviour.

The next day came as any other, Tori had been to the hospital and had another ultrasound. The image of the baby was clear. Tori had left the hospital excited and happy.

On the way home she walked through Sodapop's street, eager to bump into Darry or Ponyboy. As she couldn't see them pottering around in the garden, she decided to knock and show Darry the pictures from the scan. It was Saturday, she knew Soda would be at work, and even though Soda didn't care, Darry had made it clear that he and Pony were still interested, as he called by a few times a week.

Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door.

"Come in!" sounded the familiar voice, which belonged to non other than Soda.

Tori's heart rate fluctuated as she debated whether or not to run away or go inside. After all she was here to see Darry, not Soda. Whether instinct took over or she was too happy to care, she walked through the door and into the sitting room.

Soda and Two-Bit were sat on the settee watching Mickey Mouse. Soda turned to see who it was. The movie-star grin was wiped from his face, when he was faced with reality.

"Hi Tori." Two-Bit's smile was welcoming and encouraged Tori to be confident.

"Hey… Is Darry in? He...ah...said he wanted to see pictures of my baby, so I brought some round for him." Tori spoke with an air of confidence, which convinced Soda she didn't need him. It frightened him. Even though he had left her, deep down he still cared for her.

"No. He isn't." Soda replied trying to ignore the fact, Tori was carrying photos of their child.

"Okay. Well I guess I'll be going. Can I leave these photo's here?" Tori asked.

"No. You cant. If he wants to see them then he can come to you and see them." Soda spat, feeling hurt Tori hadn't asked him if he had wanted to see them.

"Why? Don't you want to see them? It's your baby too." Tori was sick of arguing, all she wanted was for Soda to actually seem interested in his child.

"No. I don't. I thought I'd made that clear when I said don't leave them here. So can you go now." Soda stated without an ounce of empathy.

"Fine. You're a prick. Hope you realise that." Tori turned for the door.

"Yeah. Well I do. And I'm glad because getting you pregnant was probably the worst thing I've ever done!" Soda screamed.

Tori dropped the pictures and ran out of the house.

"Shucks, was that necessary? You know you don't mean that." Two-Bit gestured.

"Yeah so. I love her, and she's over it, so I can't see her till I am. It's, it's just too painful. Anyway I better be going, I got work." Soda stood up and walked over to the door. Scattered on the floor, was pictures from the ultrasound. He bent down and picked them up. "Shit. This kids getting big." He said as he picked them up and placed them down on the cabinet, and walked out the door. _My baby's huge. Both my baby's are huge, and I'm missing it. _Soda thought to himself, _but Tori's not my baby no more._

At the DX jobs were being turned over double the speed, with an echoic silence cast through the shop, the tension was so intense you could have cut it with a knife. Steve's hair still hadn't fully grown back. It looked, in all honesty, silly. His hair was all the same length except for a circular shape, which had been shaved off. A pattern of stitches could be seen also. Although Soda and Steve had been friends since they were small, and hated working in silence, Steve still wasn't speaking to Soda. It wasn't really the fact that he had hit him with the clock; it was more the fact that Steve blamed Soda for pushing him away and more to the point he was too stubborn to let it drop.

"Steve, this is ridiculous. It really is." Soda stated taking a sip of his pop.

"No. You're ridiculous. You risk everything you had with me to be a good dad and boyfriend then you go and throw it all away. You nearly killed me; you treat me like a fool, Soda. We were meant to be best friends you ruined it. For me. For you. For everyone. Now the whole gang cant hang out together anymore because of you. I don't even like working with you. I'm looking for a new job. I hate being in the same room as you. You're so selfish. I bet you don't even care that were not friends." Steve scoffed. His anger had not subsided.

"Course I care. Geez, Steve I miss you. You're my best friend." Soda sighed. He had ruined everything. It was all out of control and all he could do was feel sorry for himself.

"Whatever." Steve ignored Soda's bid.

"You want to do something tonight?" Soda asked.

"No. Not with you. And anyway, I'm going on a date. With Christie." Steve retorted.

"You're a prick. Steve I'm trying real hard to please you and make it up to you but you just don't give a shit. It was an accident. You know that. I would never have done it on purpose. You're like a brother to me." Soda's voice was becoming higher pitched.

"I don't care about the fucking clock. I care that you ditched me for your girl." Steve spat.

"That's what this is about? This is about Tori? Shoot Steve you know me and her aren't together." Soda put his head in his hands.

"I can't be assed with this. I'm going. If anyone asks where I've gone tell them you pushed me to walk out 'cos you were being an annoying bastard." Steve threw down the spanner, with which he was fixing a suspended car, and walked out.

Soda was angry, more with himself than anyone else. He decided to finish the job Steve was doing. He lay down under the suspended car and began to work.

_Geez, this should have been written off. _Soda thought while he continued working. The underside of the car had pieced of sharp rusty metal hanging down. It had been in a nasty crash, and needed a lot of work to be done. Usually the DX didn't take on jobs like this one, but some rich guy was paying double if they could sort it out.

Soda heard a screech and before he could move…blackness surrounded him as the world around him faded away...

_Author's Note "Dun dun dun... Hope you all like this cliff hanger! He he!"_


	14. The Wait

_Author's Note..."I appreciate everyone's reviews! Thanks! Short chapter this time...adds to the tension of the theme...! Please read and review and i hope you all enjoy this one."_

Kirsten opened the door to the shop. "Soda. You in here? What did you say to Tori? I need to talk to you." She raised her voice so it could be heard through the back in the workshop where Sodapop lay.

"Kirst…" was all Soda could say. The damaged car had fallen from its brackets and landed on Soda. Water droplets ran down his cheek. His face was cut, but that was the least of his worries. The car had punctured his spleen, and broken quite a few of his bones. He was trapped and couldn't escape. "Kirs…" his voice was thin and raspy as he gasped for breath. The car was squashing his lungs preventing him from breathing, preventing him from moving. Pain shot through him like a thousand knives.

"Soda! Stop ignoring me! Tori's ill. She's hurting herself. You got to stop being a dick." Kirsten shouted.

Soda could hear Kirsten's angry tone, but didn't know what she was saying. His vision was blurred and he was falling in and out of consciousness. He needed to go to hospital if he had any chance of surviving. Blood trickled down his forehead and smeared itself over his dirty skin. The pain was unbearable. But it was worse knowing that help was only through the wall, and there was no way of communicating. His mind was spinning as he tried to stay alert.

Kirsten listened to the silence, angered by Soda.

"Right that's it! I'm coming through there. Don't say I didn't warn you!" Kirsten pushed open the door to see a car. No Soda. No Steve. "What's going on?" She said to herself as she circled the room. "No good hiding Soda, I'll fin…"

Her eyes darted to Soda's arm, which had inevitably been broken as he tried to escape. "Soda! Shit. Hold on Soda. I'll call an ambulance!" Kirsten stood up and ran to the phone.

Ten minutes later and the fire brigade and ambulance had arrived at the scene to get Soda out from under the car.

Half an hour later and he was on his way to hospital, Kirsten riding with him, holding his hand.

"Geez, Soda you have to hang on. You have to." She sobbed. "Is he gonna be okay?" She asked the paramedic who was monitoring Soda's condition and administering drugs.

"It's early days yet. But it's lucky you found him. Is he your boyfriend?" The paramedic asked sensitively.

"No, he's my friends ex, she's having his baby. That's why you've got to make it Soda, you've got to hold on for your baby."

An hour later and Soda was in the operating theatre. Kirsten had called Darry. He and Ponyboy had rushed straight over.

Darry was pacing the floor, backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards.

Ponyboy sat with his head in his hands. Suddenly he sat up. "Darry," he sobbed, "What if Soda dies?"

Darry looked at Pony crying, wiped a tear from his own eyes and sat beside him. "Hey buddy. He's not gonna die. He's gonna be fine." Who was he trying to kid? There was a good chance Soda wouldn't survive. They both knew it and so did Kirsten. Darry's heart sunk, _please God, don't take my little brother away. _

Kirsten had called Steve and Tori and told them that Soda had been in an accident. Both were really concerned and made their ways to the hospital.

Steve was first to arrive. "What's going on?" He asked, when he got there, his eyes were scanning the grim faces of his friends. "Soda okay?"

Before Darry could respond Tori walked in. She wasn't sure what was going on. Kirsten told her that Soda was okay, however it was far from the truth.

As she walked into the waiting room, she saw the tear stained faces of Darry, Pony and Kirsten. A knot of fear tightened in her stomach.

"What's happened?" She asked as she braced herself for bad news. She stood near Steve.

"A car, it fell on Soda at work. He's in the operating theatre. We don't know much else. But it doesn't look good." Darry said. His face looked drained and the worry looked more than he could bare.

"Oh god." Tears fell from Tori's eyes as she fell to her knees.

"Fuck! Darry! No. It's my fault. I'm sorry. I walked out. I left him." Steve's complacent face was a wash with tears. He sat down and put his hands on his head.

Ponyboy was scared, he had never seen Steve cry. He sat next to where Steve now was.

"Steve it will be okay." Pony stated. He sounded unconvincing. How could things be okay? Soda was in theatre. He could die and there was no escaping that fact.

"Tori. Come on. Sit up." Darry said putting his arm around the distraught mother-to-be.

"Yeah come on Tor, Soda will be okay." Kirsten reassured her.

"You guys…" Tori sobbed. "I can't move. Fuck. Something's happening." Tori flinched with pain as she grasped her stomach.

"Shit! Is it the baby?" Kirsten urged.

"I think so. Awwwwwwww! Kirst it's, it's hurting. I, I . owwwwww!" Tori squealed with pain as Kirsten ran to reception to get a doctor.

Soon enough she was whisked off to an emergency room, quickly followed by Kirsten.

Tears streamed down her face as she lay in agony. The doctors took her into a small room full of machines.

"You will feel a small prick." A nurse said as she injected Tori with something.

Her vision became blurred and voices seemed far away. The pain began to subside. _Am I dying?_ Tori questioned herself as her eyes started to shut. Moments later and she was in a deep sleep.

Kirsten waited patiently outside. Her mind was spinning. What was going on?

The door opened and a doctor came out.

"May I speak with you about Tori? I understand she has been performing self-harm. Did you know?" The doctor spoke so calmly; it sent shivers down Kirsten's spine. How could anyone be so calm when they worked in a hospital?

"Yeah. Only just found out though. She's trying to stop. I had been helping her. She's been through a hard time recently." Kirsten put her head down. Why hadn't she told anyone?

"I see. So she doesn't do it all the time?"

"No. You see, her mom didn't take too well to her falling, and she and her boyfriend have split so…"

"I understand." The doctor stood up.

"Doctor, will Tori and the baby be okay?" Kirsten asked nervously.

"At the moment, it's too soon to say. Tori will be fine, but the baby…only time will tell. Try not to worry. Thank you for your time."

Back in the first waiting room time was dragging.

"Fuck!" Pony said out loud.

"Watch your language Pony." Darry said softly.

"But Tori shouldn't have been told until we know how Soda is. What if she looses the baby? What if Soda dies? It's all fucked up Darry, and you know it."

"You're right." Steve said to Pony as he looked up from his hands. "Look Pony. I'm sorry. For all the rifts between us. I hope Soda…. I just hope he pulls through. I feel like it's my entire fault. If…if he… I don't know what I'll do."

"Yeah. Me too. It's not your fault Steve, whatever happens, don't blame yourself." Pony sighed. He looked around… all he could think about was his brothers smiling face, the rift between he and Steve seemed petty in comparison.

Hours passed and the waiting became unbearable. No one could tell them what was going on, with either Soda or Tori.

Finally a doctor came over to speak to them.

"Mr Curtis?" He asked quietly and politely.

"Yeah. My brother is he okay?" Darry asked quickly.

"If you could follow me this way."

All three, stood up and followed the doctor to a small comfortable family and friends room.

"Take a seat." The doctor motioned. His face was grave and saddened.

A knot of fear was building up, what if he hadn't survived?

Darry took a deep breath as he suppressed his tears. The room was silent and stale; it reminded Darry of the same day his parents had died, of when he had been told. He remembered their funeral. He shuddered at the thought that he may have to burry his own brother. It was heartbreaking.

He looked over to Pony, his face was whiter than a sheet, and he looked like he had seen a ghost. He was chewing on his fingernail. _Poor Soda. _Pony thought, _you can't die on me you, you cant. _

Darry wished there was something he could do, something he could say…but words failed him. He glanced over to Steve. His eyes were red raw from rubbing them. He was sitting looking really uncomfortable. Taking deep breaths.

The doctor took a deep breath, before announcing the fate of Sodapop Curtis…


	15. Shock & Tears

The short pause, in which the uncertainties became ever nearer, seemed the longest time ever.

Sodapop was young, handsome, caring, and he was going to be a father, he didn't deserve to die.

"I'm pleased to tell you that Sodapop has survived the operations and is conscious."

"Yippee!" Ponyboy exclaimed. A smile was smeared across his face.

Darry and Steve were beaming.

"However, he is lucky to have survived." The doctor continued. "He has several injuries. He has a fracture to his left humorous in his upper arm. A clear break in his right tibia; the lower of his leg, and has hairline fractures in three of his ribs. A large gash on his forehead, we've stitched it up. Seven stitches in total. His stomach was punctured, and we have had to remove his spleen as it was causing severe internal bleeding. Obviously we have stitched and bandaged him up, but he is on high doses of morphine at the moment and is drowsy off the operation. He will come round." The doctor explained.

"Thank you doctor. Thank you so much for saving my brother." Darry beamed shaking the doctors hand. "Can we see him?"

"It's not me you wish to be thanking. It's the young lady who found him. If he had been left any longer, and it may have been too late." The doctor paused. "He will have to stay in here for a few days and when he goes home he will be in a wheelchair for a few weeks, just until he can walk, you see with him having a cast on both his arm and leg and having broken ribs, his balance will be off. Also, we will be giving him an oxygen supply as he may find it hard to breath, as well as painkillers etc…but yes you can see him…although he will be sleeping."

Pony smiled. _I knew you could make it Soda, _he thought to himself. _You had to. Now I just hope baby Soda does too…_

"While we're here… Do you know if, if Tori Jameson is okay? She's pregnant, she got rushed away, and her baby… she hurt." Steve asked, even though he and Soda had fell out. His anger and disappointment in Soda had been replaced by fear and worry. And even though Steve blamed the baby for them drifting apart, he didn't mean it. This kid was Soda's, and if it meant something to Soda it meant something to Steve.

"I'm sorry I don't. I'll try and find out for you though. You may go in and see Sodapop now. But I warn you he is in a mess." The doctor said as he led the way to Soda's room.

Darry and Ponyboy slowly walked in. Pony shed a tear when he saw his brother laying there, a drip in his arm, and his other arm in a cast. His leg in a cast and his face badly bruised.

"Hey little man." Darry said smiling. "So glad you're okay. Thought we'd lost you. How you feeling?"

Soda's eyes were small slits; he looked tired and could hardly talk. "I'm okay." Soda attempted to smile, but it didn't turn out too good. "Hey Pony."

"Hey." Pony smiled. He knew everything was going to be okay. "Steve's here. Soda, he's real sorry. And Tori…"

Soda was beat, "Yeah? Can you just tell Kirst I said thanks?"

"Yeah. I'll let her know." Darry smiled.

Soda yawned.

"Yeah not a problem." Pony beamed.

Soda struggled as he fought a battle to keep his eyes open.

"Sodapop, we'll leave you to go to sleep okay? We'll be here when you wake up, I promise." Darry motioned for Ponyboy to stand up.

"Okay. Thanks. Night." Soda mumbled as he was defeated and his eyes closed.

Darry and Pony met Steve outside.

"Shoot, he don't look so good huh?" Steve questioned concerned.

"Nope, but he's alive that's the main thing." Darry smiled.

"Yeah. Do you think, do you think it would be okay for me to talk to him in the morning? When he's not so tired. I wanna apologise." Steve asked Darry scared of the reaction.

"Yeah sure. I'm just hoping Tori's okay now, and the baby."

As she lay there still she felt as if she was floating. She could hear the sound of a bleep coming from what she guessed was some sort of a machine. Tori slowly opened her eyes, to a bright white, sterile room. She was lying on a bed, and was attached to a monitor…what had happened? Panic stricken she sat bolt upright in her bed; she felt her stomach…the bump was still there. As she felt her bump, she noticed her forearms and legs were bandaged where she had cut.

The white painted door opened and a woman wearing a white jacket walked in.

"Good morning Tori." The doctor said as she approached the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm, I feel okay." Tori spoke cautiously. " What happened? Is my baby okay?"

"Yes your baby is fine. What happened is that, obviously you have been rather stressed lately, your baby had moved place in your uterus and the oxygen supply had been shortened due to a change in position of the umbilical cord. It is a good job you were in the hospital at the time, or your baby could have run out of oxygen. We gave you a few shots, which encouraged your baby to move back to the foetal position, allowing it to retrieve more oxygen. We also had to monitor you, because your blood pressure increased. But your baby is safe." The doctor stopped while Tori took it in.

"So, I could have killed my baby because I was stressed?" Tori's mind was spinning.

"No, Tori stress added to it. It is not your fault. You didn't nearly kill your baby. Don't blame yourself. If its okay with you, I'm going to ask a psychologist to come along and talk to you about your…cuts."

Tori blushed. "I, I can explain. Please, don't take my baby away." Tori pleaded. "I'll talk to whoever you want, but please, let me keep my baby."

"Tori, you have got to understand that no one wants to take your baby away from you. We just want to help you to get better. Talking can help. I understand your friend has been helping you. That's good. Support is the key." The doctor explained.

"Yeah. Is Kirsten still here?" Tori asked, her mind drifted to Soda- her heart sunk. "Do you mind if I speak to her?"

"No of course not. I'll send her in."

"Kirsten. How's Soda?" Tori blurted out before she had even stepped through the door.

Kirsten smiled. "He's okay! He's in a bad way with broken bones and that but he's gonna be okay."

Tori heaved a sigh of relief. "Do you think they'll let me see him? Just to let him know that I'm here for him…if he wants me."

"Yeah I think so. Good news about the baby huh." Kirsten grinned touching Tori's bump.

"Yeah. I think so. They want me to talk to a psychologist . What if they think I'm a wako?" Tori urged.

"Girl listen, they wont. You're not. Everything will be fine." Kirsten smiled as her friend slumped down on the bed.

The hours passed and Soda slept. He woke up late the next afternoon. He had been pestered with visitors. Darry, Ponyboy, Two-Bit, Johnny, and Dally, had all visited, all worried and all relieved that Sodapop had made it.

Soda lay in his bed, his left arm, and right leg in casts. His body ached. He was uncomfortable, and he had a stinging sensation arising from his forehead and he felt sick.

The door opened Steve walked in.

"Hey buddy." Steve said smiling as he approached Soda's bed. "Listen Soda, I'm sorry. For everything that's happened. I'm glad you're okay."

"It's fine. We're friends. If you wanna be." Soda rasped.

"Yeah. You know, Tori came down too Soda. She was real upset when they said what happened."

"She okay?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, she's okay. She's with Kirsten." Steve didn't want to lie to him, but he didn't know if Tori or the baby were okay. He thought that telling him the truth would upset him; he didn't need to be upset he was lucky to be alive.

"Do you think she would come and see me? I've been thinking… Steve I could have died… I know I could have, then the last memories Tori would have is of me being a complete cock." Soda explained.

"Yeah, probably. But Soda, I'm confused, I thought you were pissed off cause she kissed Dally?" Steve puzzled.

"Yeah I was. I was upset. Geez , Steve I love her. She's carrying my baby- I need to be apart of that. I need her back in my life, just like I need you back in my life. I've had a chance to think, its not the way I want things to be. I don't want them to be awkward."

"Soda, she probably feels the same. Just talk to her. And as for me, I'm here for you. What happened before, it's nothing, just forget about it." Steve smiled. He was so happy Sodapop had pulled through.

"Steve could you get Tori to come in please?" Soda asked as he lay still, a throbbing sensation was building in his head.

"Yeah I will. Take care of yourself, and I'll be back later, after work." Steve stated as he stood up.

Steve approached the waiting room, knowing that Tori wasn't there, knowing that he didn't know where she was or what was happening. As he stepped into the waiting room, Darry was stood up smiling, Ponyboy was slouched in the chair with a can of soda, and Kirsten was standing facing Darry moving her hands as she spoke.

Steve ran over to his friends, "What's happened? Soda, he's asking to see Tori. Is she okay?"

"Steve, Tori and the baby are okay." Steve sighed with relief as Darry continued, "but she has been self harming."

"What?" Steve blurted out. "She's been trying to kill herself?"

"She's been cutting her wrists. Just as a coping strategy, she wasn't intending to kill herself, just escape. I'm gonna tell Soda, he's got to know, that's what I was going to tell him when I found him, I think Tori's gonna come down n speak to him herself, she's just got to talk to someone first." Kirsten explained.

Steve was astonished, how had no one realised?

Kirsten opened the white door to Soda's room. She braced herself for what she would see. Although she had been the one to find him she knew that he would look somewhat worse to what she had remembered, after all now he was attached to machines and drips, never mind the obvious physical injuries.

Soda looked up to see his rescuer enter the room. A smile, a vague shadow of his former movie star grin, shone over his pale face and lit his excited eyes up.

"Hi Kirsten, you know, if it wasn't for you…" Soda started but became cut off.

"Yeah I know, and you don't have to say thanks, anyone in that position would have done the same. I'm just glad your okay. But there's something I need to tell you. Something you need to know." Kirsten said, her face somewhat serious. She was unsure how she was to tell Sodapop, but it needed to be done.

"Okay. I thought Tori came, Steve said he would send her in…" Soda paused; something told him there was something going on. "What's up Kirst?"

"Tori did come. But… right Soda I'm gonna tell you something which might upset you but don't jump to any conclusions until I finish. Okay. So when Tori found out what had happened, she got pains in her stomach, she got rushed away," Soda's eyes started to fill up as he listened intently. "but don't worry everything's okay now. Just your baby, it had moved and was cutting its own oxygen supply off. It's fine now though. Both Tori and your baby are fine." Kirsten paused before telling Soda about Tori's self harm.

"Thank God. Shoot, Kirsten I thought you were gonna say I had lost one of them." Soda heaved a sigh of relief as a few tears fell from his eyes.

"Sodapop there's something you got to understand. Tori's been lonely, she's been under a lot of stress…"

"I know, but when I get out of here, Kirsten, I'm gonna be there for her. I promise." Soda cut in.

"Good. I'm glad. But Soda you're gonna have to support her good, emotionally. Tori's… she's… Soda Tori's been self-harming. Cutting her wrists and legs."

Soda's eyes began to fill once more as guilt and regret flooded through him.

"Oh, God. Kirsten what have I done?" Soda asked.

"Soda calm down. It's not your fault. It's happened and now we need to think for the future. Tori's now speaking to a psychologist. Don't worry though. Everything will be okay. She's gonna come and see you." Kirsten positively stated.

"If I hadn't been so hard on her about Dally, and if I hadn't got scared maybe non of this would have happened. I feel bad." Soda took a deep breath; he squinted in pain as pressure was exerted on his ribs.

"Don't be silly. Tori's had a hard time. She used to do it when her dad died, and a few times when John started. But she's been really strong. She's stopped. Don't blame yourself." Kirsten sighed.

Tori slowly walked towards Soda's room, after having one hundred questions thrown at her by everyone else. She took a deep breath as thoughts whizzed over and over in her mind. How was she going to explain everything to Soda without sounding pathetic? It had been hard talking to the psychologist, but it would be harder talking to Soda.

_Author's Note; "Hey, just writing a quick note to apologise for the late update. The past few weeks have been a bit stressful trying to sort stuff out. So I'm sorry. Anyway, hope I don't disappoint anyone with this chapter. I'll try and update soon. Please read and review because it makes me feel more confident about my writing and thanks for my previous reviews. Enjoy!"_


	16. Games & Names

Tori peered through the frosted glass. On her first glance she could see a blurred vision of who she guessed was Sodapop, attached to something, she guessed it must be his monitor, although it was unclear, sat next to Soda was a long haired girl, instinct told her it was Kirsten. Her heart was pounding and her palms were clammy. Deep down she knew she had to open the door soon or she would lose the strength to face Soda.

Inside the room, Soda was lying propped up by a number of pillows. Although Soda was being pumped lots of painkillers, the pain was still there, agonising every movement he made, like a hammer taking a blow to him every time he dared to adjust his position. His lungs ached as he breathed; he guessed it felt like swallowing broken glass.

Soda was attempting a smile; the smile was a weakened shadow of his former movie star grin, something sent a shiver down Tori's spine, for the first time she was faced with a cold reality, no matter who said it was okay, it wasn't. Friendships had been ruined, Soda and Tori weren't on speaking terms and were having a child, - in reality it was one big mess.

Tori took a deep breath and opened the door. Suddenly her ex faced her. Her face became pale with shock as she realised the extent of his suffering. Her mind became numb with fear as she saw the wires and drips extending from Soda's body. Arms draped her shoulders as she snapped out of her trance.

Kirsten embraced her. "Tori, it's okay. Soda knows everything. He's okay. Everything will be okay." Kirsten whispered into her friend's ear.

Tori nodded and attempted a smile. "Thanks."

"Okay well, I'll leave you guys to it. Feel better Soda. Bye." Kirsten said with a warm smile as she left.

"Yeah thanks Kirst," Soda said uneasy. His eyes followed the mother of his child. "Hey."

"Hi. How you feeling?" Tori asked quickly. She felt awkward. Soda's eyes were wide with a dull tinge of excitement.

"Well I would say good but that would be a lie. I was feeling better but then I found out about you, how you, and the baby, and… well now I don't feel too good." Soda struggled to come to terms with the near loss of his child, and ex.

"Soda, I'm sorry about that. But our baby's fine. Healthy. Fine. It just moved and cut its oxygen supply so they had to encourage it to move back which they did. So it's fine now. Nothing to worry about. I think we need to talk about what's going to happen, at some point. Like when the baby's born, and a name and stuff." Tori explained, she sat down on the brown comfy seat. Her heart was pounding like a beating drum as she searched for a way to tell Soda about her self-harm.

"I know we've got to talk and I know that our baby is okay. But are you?" Soda asked intently. Without realising it he began biting his bottom lip, shaking with worry, intensely scanning his mind for reassurance, for hope that things were going to be okay.

"Yeah. Course I'm okay." Tori lied, her eyes turned away from Soda as she did so. She looked at the clean sterile room surrounding her, she shivered; it was cold and unwelcoming.

"Tori are you really? I know about, about your…wrists. Kirsten told me. I'm so worried about you." Soda explained. A tear rolled down his bruised and battered face. His face looked older than it was, as Soda tried to battle the pain. He took a deep breath and looked at a shocked and shamed Tori, she looked broken, but with a small ounce of strength which gave her the courage to sit in front of him, to face him, to face her own problems.

"I, I don't know what to say. Please don't think badly of me. Please don't think I won't be a good mom. I'm getting better; I haven't done it in a while now, Soda. I'm getting help." Tori's eyes filled up as her worst fears began spilling out, what if Soda thought she was unfit to look after their baby? What if he took it away from her? What if she was left heartbroken with all her dreams shattered alone and scared.

"I know you are. Tori I know you will make a good mom. I feel so bad. Like it's my fault." Soda's eyes were wide with fear.

"It's not your fault. Have you ever felt so bad you just wanted to disappear? That's how I felt. When I was hurting or sad, I would cut. It was sort of a coping strategy. It made me feel safe, because I could control it. It's been really hard without you and then Nathan's been working away, sometimes, Soda I don't know what to do, I don't want to hurt anymore." Tori's eyes were glowing a bright green as tears were streaming down her now pale grimaced face. She looked torn.

"If only I hadn't upset you. I knew I shouldn't have left you the minute I walked out. Then Nathan told me you were on a date, so I went out with that slag to make you jealous, then you told me you kissed Dally. I felt like an idiot. I didn't know what to do either. I just wanted you so much, but I was ashamed of what I done and how I acted. I was too stubborn to do anything about it, so I pushed you away even further." Soda confessed.

"Soda, don't blame yourself. It's not the first time I've done it. But I'm not going to do it again. I cant. I'm living for my baby now. I've got to be the best mom I can be." Tori explained. "I'm just so scared. About the birth. About what will happen when it's born. Where I will get money. It's just scary. I know I've got a savings account, what my mom put to one side for me when my dad died, but its only $5000, its not going to last forever. "

"Tori I will help you. I promise you won't be alone. I promise I'm going to look after you and our baby. I promise."

"Soda you don't have to say that. Really I'm not going to do it again. I just have to get used to the idea you will get involved with other girls and stuff. You know you can see your baby whenever you like." Tori sighed. She felt she was loosing the battle.

"Tori you don't understand. I think we should give it another go." Soda suggested positively.

"Soda, I don't want you to be with me because you feel sorry for me. We will just end up the way we were."

" I love you Tori. I don't feel sorry for you. I just love you. I want to be with you." Soda felt like a big load had been lifted off his aching body as he finally revealed his feelings.

"I, Soda… I…" Tori looked confused, was there any truth in Soda's suggestion?

"Don't say anything. You don't have to make a decision now. Just promise me we can be friends." Soda attempted another smile.

"Yeah okay. Friends." Tori smiled back. Were things finally getting better?

Darry and Pony had practically lived in the hospital waiting room since Soda had been rushed in. They were eagerly waiting him coming home.

"Darry, what will happen when Soda gets home? He wont be able to climb the stairs. And the toilets upstairs." Pony's mind raced with problems they would have to face in the near future.

"Then Soda can stay upstairs for a while." Darry suggested.

"But what if there's no one in and he needs a drink, and he cant get downstairs to get one?" Pony questioned.

"I don't know Pony, we will sort something out." Darry sighed; he knew it was going to be hard work looking after Soda.

A few weeks passed and Soda was making progress. He had been home almost a week now. His friends were dropping by all the time, and when he was with them time flew. But it was the time he spent alone which Soda couldn't handle. He was managing to get up the stairs, but only just. He spent the time alone sat in his wheelchair in front of the television. Soda started to realise day time television was crap, he longed to go outside, even to go back to work…anything to escape his boredom. As the hours passed the days grew longer as he waited patiently for his brothers to come home. Time seemed to stand still.

Darry was refusing to let Soda out of the house, still persistent that he could get an infection in his stitches from where his spleen had been removed, as a consequence he had missed his baby's seven month scan. He was angry, just as things seemed to be getting better, Darry wouldn't let him go to the hospital with Tori.

"Have you brought the pictures?" Soda smiled warmly as he eagerly waited to see the development of his baby.

"Yeah I have. Not long now. Just two month to go. Hope it's born after Christmas though don't really want to be in hospital over Christmas." Tori laughed as she handed over a few photos.

"I know! Ha! You looking forward to it?" Soda asked.

"What? Giving birth? You've got to be joking! I'm terrified! Been talking to my psychologist about it, she thinks I'll be fine, she's been showing me new coping strategies, its all a bit scary though."

"And painful too I would imagine." Soda grinned, he was really happy as he delicately examined the photos.

"Yeah thanks Soda." Tori rolled her eyes.

"Ha! Can I come?" Soda asked.

"Come where?" Tori was confused.

"Come to the hospital when it gets born." Soda asked cautiously. "I'd hold your hand and stuff. Try and make you feel better."

"If you want. Yeah. I didn't think you would want to." Tori smiled, everything seemed to be climbing back up hill.

"Thanks." Soda grinned; he was regaining his movie star grin, as he was getting better. "Can I have a hug?"

"Yeah if you want." Tori leaned in; Soda wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and held her close, engulfing her sweet scent, the once familiar scent filled his lungs making him feel light and airy.

Soda released Tori, he stared into her green majestic eyes, and he was empowered by them. It was as if he was drawn to her. Without realising what he was doing he leaned in and kissed her.

Tori was surprised, but kissed him back. His soft lips passionately making her want him more. Suddenly she jerked out of the moment and pulled away from him.

"Shit, Tori I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have. I…" Soda was cut off.

"It's not that, it's the baby. It's just kicked!" Tori laughed.

"Really? Can I feel?" Soda asked excitedly.

"Yeah." Tori grinned as she placed Soda's hand on her stomach.

"Ha! Wow, it really did." Soda laughed. "Tori what do you say, we give it another go?"

Tori smiled warmly. "Yeah okay. Under one condition; we talk about our problems rather than run out. Yeah?"

"Definitely." Soda's eyes lit up as he smiled. They leaned in and kissed again, this time the kiss was equally as passionate to their first ever kiss.

Another week passed by and Soda was becoming demented with boredom. He was sitting watching another repeated episode of Mickey Mouse. Darry was sitting in his usual place reading his usual paper.

"Darry, you think I can go out yet? I just want to go round Tori's or Steve's. I just want to get out. I'm fed up of sitting in this darn house." Soda asked impatiently.

"Yeah okay. But I'm coming with you." Darry put his paper down and looked at his brother.

Soda looked slightly discontent with this response. "Darry can I not stop over night? At Tori's… please."

"I don't know Soda, I think it's too soon."

"Darry my baby's due soon." Soda pleaded.

"I know and when you are better you can do as you please, but at the minute you aren't better so you do as I say." Darry stated.

The next afternoon, Darry pushed Soda around to Tori's flat, and arranged to pick him up when he had finished work.

"Tori, I'm excited. It's not long at all." Soda laughed.

"I know. I've bought you a Christmas present. It's not much, but I think you'll like it." Tori smiled.

"Really? That's real nice of you. I haven't got you one yet." Soda was lying on the settee, his head on Tori's lap.

"Yeah well, you don't need to. Soda what do you think we will have? A boy or a girl?" Tori asked.

"I don't know. I hope it's a girl and she looks like you. And if it's a boy I'll be happy too. What do you want?"

"I don't know. Either as long as it's healthy." Tori slipped away from reality and into a daydream. In this dream her and Soda had a big house somewhere in town. It was a white house, with four bedrooms, a garage, a driveway, and two big gardens greener than the grass at the park. The house was accompanied by a large indoor swimming pool, a playroom for their baby, and a large living area. In this daydream, everything was better than reality, everything was perfect. They both had well paid jobs, and the problems they faced in Tulsa seemed a million miles away.

"Tori? What are we going to call it?" Soda asked suddenly, realising with only two month to go they had yet to think of a name.

"I don't know." Tori snapped out of her daydream and started thinking about names.

"For a boy how about…Timothy, or Henry, or Glen? And for a girl what about…Penny, or Lilly, or Sarah?" Soda suggested. Thinking about it he didn't think he wanted his child to be called any of the above. "Actually scrap that I don't like them."

After hours of deliberation and suggestions two names were finally decided.

I like Jack for a boy, and I don't know about a girl." Soda smiled. "What do you think?"

"Jack…I like it! Jack Curtis. Sounds good to me. Jack for a boy." Tori looked at Soda, "What about Elli? For a girl."

"Elli. Yeah it's cute. Elli and Jack! Cool! Can't wait till we find out what it is now!" Soda laughed. Everything was fine. He just hoped their baby would be happy and healthy.

_Author's Note; "Hey everyone! Deep apologies. Really sorry for the super late update. Been immensely busy, and my laptop (Which I type my story on) broke so, deep apologies! Hope you all enjoy the chapter and I hope I don't disappoint anyone. I promise I'll try to update sooner. Had my first day at Uni today so please bear with me! Thanks for all of my reviews last chapter. Tikagem: in response to your review, I realise the quotation is a double negative and I purposefully put it in to emphasize the irony of the future of Soda & Tori's relationship, as you can see it hasn't been a smooth ride! But thanks for your constructive criticism, please let me know if there's anything dodgy about my writing! Thanks! Also thanks for all of my other reviews everyone else! Please read & review! I better be off since my A/N will be longer than my story! Ha! Until next time…. **Fizzyworms**_


	17. As Winter Draws In

With Christmas only twelve days away, and the birth of their baby drawing closer; the atmosphere in the walls of both the Curtis and Jameson's residence, was becoming increasingly excitable.

"Can't believe it's only a few weeks away!" Pony exclaimed excitedly as a mixture of thoughts of the baby and Christmas whizzed around his head. The Christmas tree lights reflected off his greased hair making it glisten in the gloomy yet warm room.

Darry was acting like a captain on a ship, directing the tree trimming- commanding Two-Bit, Johnny and Ponyboy what he wanted on and where. While Lucy, Tori, Kirsten, Steve and Soda sat around the sitting room admiring the decorations and Tori's now highly visible bump.

Although the Curtis house was small, it sure was homely. Darry had gone all out this year. Mistletoe was hung in every doorway; tempting a Christmas kiss. The large alpine spruce tree stood tall and proud as it shadowed the room. Decorated in gold and red; the tree glistened. Underneath, were a small number of gifts wrapped in different coloured paper, tied with bows and ribbons, each wrapped carefully and looked as if they came from the North Pole itself.

Tulsa was sporting icy cold winds and welcoming pelting rain and ice.

"Geez, it's bloody freezing out there!" Dally exclaimed as he burst through the door dripping wet, his leather jacket soaked through.

"Where've you been Dal?" Johnny asked, his dark eyes gleaming with sorrow; this house was a sanctuary to Johnny – when he returned home there would be no tree, no decorations, and certainly no presents – just the stale smell of alcohol and the echoing memories which haunted Johnny's sleep. It felt like a nightmare from which he couldn't wake up – but the reality that he faced was much worse than any dream, it was a sickening brutality, which made Johnny Cade the way he was – frightened and insecure.

Dally looked at his friend – his one weakness. "Shoot Johnny, I've been to Shepard's – he got hauled in last night; the fuzz think he stole some presents and shit from the Robinson's; you know those stuck up bastards down Meadow Lane – the ones with the Mustang? What greaser owns a Mustang? Geez! Non-that I know. He says he didn't do it, so they'll probably haul me in next – but I was busy last night; with some broad." Dally didn't look in the least bit worried, in fact his face wasn't fazed at all. Dally had been hauled into the station more times than he could remember. So for him this was a regular occurrence.

"That Shepard's trouble." Darry stated looking disapprovingly at Dally.

"Yeah so. It's not as if the sun shines out of your ass Darry!" Dally retorted, clearly not in a good mood.

"Watch your tone Dal!" Darry was stern and serious – Lucy stood up, and wrapped her slender arms around Darry's waist in attempt to calm him down. He was tense; slowly Lucy could feel him take a deep breath as he released the tension.

The room was silent.

"So what you gonna call the baby again?" Two-Bit asked trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Jack or Elli." Soda said promptly- smiling at Two-Bit as the intensity in the atmosphere lightened slightly.

Soda stood up and hobbled to the kitchen, unstable yet determined. He had been out of his wheelchair for a short while now. It was still painful for him to breathe; however his ribs were healing. His arm was still in a cast, although his leg wasn't. He had nearly regained the full potential of his famous movie star grin as the cuts and bruises on his face had faded with the autumn. Still on medication, Soda had to be careful as the scar tissue where his spleen had been removed, was still at risk from infection, which gave Darry something else to over worry about, much to Soda's distaste. Soda had suffered big time from the accident, but there was light at the end of the tunnel, he was awaiting a rather large lump sum in compensation, this was the exact reason why Soda and Darry had spent a lot more money on Christmas this year…even though presents were scarce Soda knew they would all enjoy the holiday… after all the deserved a break after all they had been through.

"I can't wait till Christmas. You better be cooking Darry! My dad's out all day…told me to make my own arrangements, he's probably gonna get smashed. Which is what we should do really!" Steve exclaimed, full of festivities.

"Steve. Don't you worry; food will be served for all who wont be attending family events. And of course there will be alcoholic beverages available." Darry laughed in a posh London accent.

"Ha! Good man Dar." Steve yelled.

"I'll be here." Dally commented as he brushed his hand through his mop of hair.

"Me too." Johnny added timidly, thinking about the empty house he would wake up to on Christmas morning, even if it weren't totally empty it may as well be.

Darry looked towards Lucy who was twiddling a strand of her red curls with her fingers. "Lucy, I know you've got a family thing, but are you gonna come down after?"

"Of course," Lucy giggled. "How else will I give you your…present?" She winked at Darry sending a shiver down his spine.

"Oh, and what present would that be…?" Darry flirtily wrapped his arms around Lucy breathing in the smell of her shampoo, a warm feeling spread through him and for a moment it felt as if no one else was in the room, he leaned in and passionately kissed Lucy. Ponyboy was disgusted.

"Get a room Darry! I'm too young to see that sort of thing…my eyes, they're too fragile…!" Ponyboy joked dramatically as he slapped his hand across his eyes.

Darry and Lucy pulled away; Lucy had a smile across her face, however, Darry's face looked shocked and appalled.

"Ponyboy, just you wait till you have a girlfriend and you want to show a bit affection; how about I embarrass you by going on like an immature kid?" Darry came down on Pony like a tonne of bricks.

Pony was shocked, but the shock quickly subsided. He rolled his eyes, and sighed. "Geez, Darry! Why do you always pick on me! I was joking! Shoot! I can't be assed with this!" Pony yelled.

"Watch your mouth Ponyboy! I don't want to get mouthy with you! It's nearly Christmas, but shoot, Pony you just…you go on like a child!" Darry sighed and sat down. "Sorry Pony."

"It's okay." Pony smiled, knowing he had successfully won an argument.

"Well sorry to disappoint. But I'm unavailable until about four o'clock. Family stuff. I can't get out of." Kirsten sighed, thinking about the day she would have to spend with a whole load of people who were supposed to be family, but who she only ever saw at Christmas. A day spent with a bunch of strangers who always ended up getting immorally drunk by lunch, then spent the rest of the day arguing! What a waste of time!

"Really? That's a shame, you know Kirst. I thought maybe we could…enjoy a Christmas kiss…just for old times sake." Steve whispered into Kirsten's ear, inconspicuously. Kirsten's eyes darted to meet Steve's; their relationship had fizzled out somewhat, so why was Steve saying this?

Kirsten squinted wondering if she had heard right. His smile said she had, it was different from his usual smile, although it was still cheeky and mysterious- there was some new element about it, something she hadn't seen before. She shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't care. But some thing inside, call it instinct, told her she should care.

As the days passed, the icy winds grew stronger and Christmas was only round the corner.

"Come on Darry! Hurry up and pick something, I feel like a pervert standing in the lingerie department!" Soda exclaimed as he leaned on one of his crutches. He and Darry were Christmas shopping for Tori and Lucy. They had been standing in the underwear department for nearly half an hour while Darry decided what to get Lucy.

"Geez, Soda, I forgot what size she is. Name some sizes I'll remember." Darry thought out loud dumbstruck, holding a pair of red lacy suspenders.

"You guys need any help there?" an older looking woman asked.

Darry blushed and put down the suspenders. "No were absolutely fine thanks. Just got…lost that's all. Come on Soda." Darry started to walk away from the assistant but Soda stopped him.

"Actually we need help a lot of help. Well he does. See my brother, here, has forgotten what size his girlfriend is. So maybe you could just tell him a few sizes to get his memory back… I don't know, we've been in here half an hour, I need to get out, my legs hurting!" Soda explained, ignoring Darry's grunts of discomfort.

"Of course. If you wish to sit down there's a seat over there by the fitting rooms. And I'll help your brother." She kindly pointed Soda in the right direction and turned to Darry, "No need to be bashful. Many men can't remember sizes, and many men shop in women's underwear departments!" She laughed at Darry's naivety.

About twenty minutes later Darry had finally picked and purchased Lucy's present. He and Soda left the store and carried on walking down a street packed with shops.

Suddenly Soda stopped, and stared eagerly in a window, like a child on Christmas morning.

"What's up little buddy?" Darry asked concerned, clutching his gift bag tightly.

"I want that one." Soda said pointing to a small white gold ring, laced with pink and white stones.

"Soda its $100. You sure you want it?" Darry asked concerned.

"Yeah. It's perfect. Tori will love it." Soda smiled. "I just want her to feel special."

"I'm pretty sure she does, you don't need to propose!" Darry's voice was alarmingly shrill.

"Propose? Ha you crack me up. I'm not going to. It's a promise ring. Like a forever ring. But I suppose we will get married one day." Soda said thoughtfully. "Come on then Darry. I hope they've got her size!"

They walked into the shop, it smelt clean and it was warm. A woman was stood at the counter, she was a strange woman, and by the looks of things she was muttering to herself. Soda hobbled up to the desk.

"Hello, how may I help you today?" The strange lady asked.

"There's a ring in the window, I want to buy it. It's the white gold ring with pink and white gems in it. I'd like a 'O' please." Soda said proudly.

"This one?" The woman said bringing it to the counter.

"Yeah that one. It's real pretty huh." Soda grinned. He couldn't wait to see Tori's face when he produced this ring.

"Yes it is indeed. I'll just check to see what sizes we have. Two minutes." The woman disappeared from view, within minutes she reappeared clutching a small black box. "Is this one okay for you?" She asked presenting the ring to Soda.

"Yeah it's perfect." Soda smiled as the ring stared him in the eye, glistening as the light fell on to the perfect band.

Meanwhile Ponyboy was out walking, it was snowing lightly and he needed to think.

Everything was changing. Even cold-hearted Darry had found someone, Darry the pain in the ass, he was happy. But that's not what bothered Pony, he and Darry didn't talk, he and Darry weren't friends, and Darry didn't understand him. It was Soda that Ponyboy was disheartened about. Soda was having a baby, and when he was better he would be moving into Tori's flat forever. He and Soda were good friends, they understood each other, and Pony missed him. Even though he was still there, it was as if they had drifted apart. Sure Pony was looking forward to getting a niece or nephew, but the more he thought about it the more jealous and resentful he became. Even Darry and Soda had became closer, they went shopping together and they discussed the future together…did they ever ask Pony how he felt? No, no one did anymore.

As his feet began to feel numb the snow began to fall heavier, but Ponyboy didn't want to go home. He knew he was lucky… Darry hadn't put him or Soda in a boy's home; he had given up his life to look after them. He had a good life compared to some of the guys; Dally- well he classed his family as dead, and Johnny- well his family weren't any better, but the more Pony thought about it the more selfish he became: why should he feel bad that Johnny's family were awful and Dally hated his…at least they had parents. Pony's were dead, and now his brothers were moving on with their lives, soon they would forget Pony even existed. He was beginning to feel sorry for himself.

The snow continued to fall, and the winds blew stronger. Ponyboy knew he had to go home. As he turned to face the cruel winds, he realised home was too far away. He hadn't realised how far he had walked. He spun around on his heels and decided to head for Tori's flat, it was closer, and he wasn't really in the mood to see Darry or Soda.

The wind whistled around his numb ears and his greasy hair felt frozen solid. Pony was sure that if he walked around any longer he would have got hypothermia. He approached the steps to the flat. Newly laid snow covered the steps, untouched.

Minutes later a heavily pregnant Tori answered the door. "Geez, Pony! You'll catch your death, get inside!" Tori exclaimed as she ushered him inside.

Pony smiled with a shiver as he stepped inside the warm house and took his sodden wet boots and jacket off.

Tori disappeared from sight, but returned seconds later, holding a pair of socks and a jumper, both belonging to Sodapop. "Here put these on, and go sit by the fire."

Pony didn't speak; he just did as he was told. He was too cold to argue.

Minutes later and the two were sat in front of the fire in the living room. Pony still sat in silence.

"You okay Pony? Just you haven't said a word since you got here." Tori quizzed concerned by Pony's unusual behaviour.

"Yeah I'm okay. Sorry. I didn't want to go home so I thought I'd come here." Pony smiled warmly; for some reason he didn't see Tori as a threat.

"That's fine. Your lucky, Nathan's been over I was going to go over his but decided against it when the snow set in. Why didn't you want to go home? Is everything okay?" Tori took a sip from her hot chocolate.

"Well yeah. No. I don't know. Darry and Soda think everything's just fine."

"What do you mean? Pony, you know if you want to talk, I'll listen." Tori offered, Ponyboy's eyes were fixed to the ground.

"I don't know. It's, well basically: Darry's got Lucy, not that I'm bothered about him. He doesn't care anyway. And Soda, well Soda's got you and the baby and he's moving out and he doesn't care about me anymore, it's not the same as it used to be. It's gone all weird. Life just isn't the same. Nothings the same." Pony looked sad, Tori felt bad…was it all her fault?

"Ah Pony it's not like that at all. Darry does care, he really does. And as for Soda, he really cares about you; I think you should tell him how you feel. Just because were having a baby, doesn't mean Soda doesn't have time for you. He does, and if he moves in here, you're welcome to come here anytime. I don't want to come between you two." Tori reached over to Ponyboy and put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Pony, you, Owww!" Tori screamed with pain as she swiped her hand from Pony's shoulder and clasped her stomach.

She slumped on to the floor in agony, tears of anxiety running down her face.

Pony stood up, "What's wrong? What do I do?" He asked quickly panicking.

"Just…. phone…owwwwwwwwwww! ambul…oww!" Tori cried.

"An ambulance? What's the number?" Pony was dumbstruck as he picked up the phone.

"911 Pony. Get Owwwwwwwwwwwww Soda. Please…. OWW"

"Ok…." Pony dialled the number.

_Author's Note…"Hey all, again really sorry for the delay… I've had a case of writers block. Think it's curing itself! Just to let you know; Zaperking, that wasn't the end of my story, but thanks for your reviews! Anyway please read & review. Thanks! FiZzYwOrMs!" _


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